What would they have done with the rest of their lives?
Passage of time hasn't made Memorial Day easier for Gurnee resident Kirk Morris, whose 19-year-old son Geoffrey died from injuries received from hostile fire in Iraq's Al Anbar province in 2004.
Morris said he's found his emotions on Memorial Day are similar to those experienced by other Gold Star families.
“It doesn't get any easier,” he said. “And it's really hard to put your finger on or get your head around it if you haven't been there. And I think, really, that's what it is. I've lost my grandmother, I've lost my father, I've lost a lot of family members. And I think you kind of accept that circle of life. You're not happy about it and it's awful and there are people that think about their deceased mom and dad. But I think because of age and the circle, we get that.
“When it's your son or daughter that made the decision to be something and do something and then they die in that service — and the violent way in which they died — there's always those thoughts in the back of your head, that had they survived, because they were doers and not talkers, what would they have done with the rest of their lives?”
Geoffrey Morris graduated early from Gurnee's Warren Township High School in January 2003. He enlisted in the military six months later and was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marines Division, I Expeditionary Force.
Morris said the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks drove Geoffrey to join the Marines. He said he's proud his son wanted to help his country in some way.
“A lot of kids are not sure what they want to do with their life or how they want to go forward,” Morris said, “but he ... made a decision early in his life to say, 'My country needs me. I'm the best I'm going to be and I will go here.' Now, unfortunately, it didn't turn out the way any of us wanted it to be. So that's where the pride comes in. You could see there is a lot of sorrow, a lot of pain that comes with that, because it didn't happen.”