You are constantly waiting for the call to come in but when it does you are never ready for it. “Daniel,” said the shaky voice of my Dad on the other end “Rhodes has been hurt but he’s ok”.
I often replay that September 2007 afternoon over and over in my mind when I think of my brother. I think of all his friends and comrades aboard the armored truck that didn’t make it when the truck did a nose-dive off a 40 ft bridge in Baghdad after encountering a road-side bomb or mechanical malfunction. Rhodes thought a lot about those boys too.
One friend in particular stood out in his mind. Sgt. Tell Gray. Tell had been home in North Carolina only 5 months prior to the “accident” that took his life. He was home for a very special occasion, the birth of he and his wife, Jessica’s, first child Ava Madison Gray. Tell was able to spend a couple of weeks with his new, gorgeous family but that was the last time he would ever see them on this earth.
After regaining strength in his crushed shoulder Rhodes began doing what any good Lieutenant would do, he began checking up on the families of those KIA. He was especially fond of the, by then, 7 month old Ava Madison, always making time to baby sit her so Jessica could go out with friends. He would even spend his weekends helping to tidy up around Jessica’s new house. It seemed strange for the first few months that Rhodes would want to spend so much time helping Jessica and Ava. But helping soon turned into loving and then we all understood.
Rhodes Roberts and Jessica Gray were united in marriage on Folly Beach, SC, just outside of Charleston, on May 16, 2009, an absolutely beautiful ceremony complete with a moving tribute to Tell.
I’m now back in Delhi, fresh off a 20 hour journey, and can only think that even though I’ve been blessed to see and do so much here in the last three months, the highlight of my trip to India has been a five day jaunt to the sunny beaches of South Carolina.
