North Texas Mother Of Fallen Navy Seal Gets Apology From General
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FORT WORTH(CBSDFW.COM) -A mother whose son made the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq gets an apology from the highest ranking military officer in the United States regarding words she says stung her and thousands of families around the country.
"I am shaking and tears are flowing down my cheeks as I listen to pain inflicting comments made by you in regards to fall of Ramadi."
A mother's response to words spoken by General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at a Pentagon news conference in April.
"The city itself is not symbolic in any way--it hasn't been declared part of the caliphate or central to the future of Iraq but we want to get it back," said Dempsey during the news conference.
General Dempsey answered a reporter's question about how critical it would be to the overall war effort to lose Ramadi to Isis.
"I actually started crying and shaking. That's where my son died his blood was poured out on that soil," said Debbie Lee, whose son Marc was the first Navy Seal to lose his life during operation Iraqi Freedom in Ramadi.
When she traveled to the city in 2007, she brought back a piece of it with her. Soil.
"To the families who's loved ones blood was shed in Ramadi, Ramadi mattered to them it matters to us," says Lee.
Ramadi has now fallen to Isis.
"It was just like the backhand the double whammy to see the Isis flag flying over there when people gave so much," says Lee.
General Dempsey responded to her letter with a letter of his own. It read in part"
"Marc and so many others died fighting to provide a better future for Iraq...They won their fight, and nothing will ever diminish their accomplishments nor the honor in which we hold their service."
As well as a phone call, Lee says she believes his apology was genuine.
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