Military Families Weigh 9/11 Architect's Death

Local military families greeted of Osama bin Laden’s death with sober sighs of relief.

“I’ve just barely have gotten the news. I haven’t really processed what it means,” said Wilton resident Shalini Madaras, whose son, Pfc. Nick Madaras, was killed in Iraq by a roadside bomb in 2006.

Madaras enlisted in the Army after graduating . He was one of several Wiltonians to enlist in the military or matriculate at one of the U.S. military academies after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Corey Walsh served in Iraq with 3BN 162^nd Infantry Brigade from 2007 to 2009, now lives in Greenwich and works for Unilever. He enlisted after graduating college. During Walsh’s time in Iraq he wore a bracelet engraved with Madaras’ name.

In the years since her son’s death, Shalini Madaras started the nonprofit Female Soldier:Forgotten Hero. The group is currently renovating Connecticut’s first and only housing for homeless female veterans. The first residents are expected to move into the Bridgeport home later this year.

“The news comes out about Osama bin Laden and it makes this [house] really more tangible. It brings home that our soldiers aren’t not just protecting our people but people around the world,” Madaras said.

U.S. Navy SEALS killed bin Laden during an operation Sunday. A burial at sea in accordance with Islamic tradition was carried out from the carrier USS Carl Vinson on Sunday.

Bin Laden was responsible for more than the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, Pentagon and Flight 93. He was also behind the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole. Al Qaeda also bombed the London underground in 2005, the Madrid trains in 2004 and a nightclub in Bali in 2002.

“It turns out that bin Laden was not hiding in an Afghani cave," U.S. Rep. Jim Himes (D-4), a Cos Cob resident, . "He was living comfortably in a house in Pakistan. It just highlights the fact that nation building in Afghanistan is distracting from the very difficult anti-terrorism work we need to do in Pakistan.

“Obviously this is a very happy day for most Americans, particularly for those like my constituents who had a very personal experience on 9/11," he added. "I think there’s good closure but we need to get to the second part,...I don’t think it changes anything strategically.”

Nearly 60 service members with ties to Connecticut have died in Afghanistan and Iraq since the wars started.

Indeed, flags across the state flew at half-staff in honor of Major Raymond G. Estelle II, killed in action in Afghanistan last Wednesday. Born in New Haven, Estelle, 40, served in the Air Force and was one of seven killed by a gunman at the Kabul International Airport last week.

In March, David Richard Fahey Jr., a 23-year-old former Norwalk resident serving in the U.S. Army, was in Afghanistan.

 “There’s been tremendous loss here in Connecticut,” said Gil Sanborn, civilian aide to Secretary of the Army for Connecticut. “I see this as not the end of our obligation, but a reminder of the high cost of this war.”

Sanborn said he couldn’t sleep for hours after hearing the news and listening to President Barack Obama’s speech Sunday night.

Sanborn became involved in raising support for troops serving in both Afghanistan and Iraq soon after the Sept. 11 attacks. He saw the planes hit the World Trade Center from his New York City office window. In the past 9 1/2 years he has established close relations with several military units, including the Dagger Brigade, the 172D "Blackhawk" Brigade and the TF Regulars.

Last December, together with the Weston Kiwanis Club, Sanborn hosted a call-in with troops based in Kandahar. In July he will address the Blackhawk Brigade before it deploys to Afghanistan.

“I didn’t experience the jubilation and thrill that people did who were televised at World Trade Center or in Washington. I felt a certain sense of numbness, which I felt watching the planes hit on 9/11,” Sanborn said.  “I feel a sense of sadness as well for all the pain and suffering in military. I hope that as a nation we don’t forget that it’s a long road home for many of them.”

While Sanborn’s reaction was more muted, others expressed more open happiness.

“I’m so freaking glad we caught that SOB,” said Westonite Betsy Peyreigne, whose son is headed to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. He was one of many young people who pursued a career in the military because of the 9/11 attacks.

Wilton’s American Legion Post 86 commander, Don Hazzard, learned of bin Laden’s demise over a morning cup of coffee. The Vietnam veteran listened to Obama’s speech on the Internet.

“I’m real happy,” Hazzard said. “I wish it meant the end of the war but there will always be people there to take his place. It’s a step forward.”