Processing bin Laden's Death Will Take Time for Families Touched by War

To help put Sunday’s news of the death of Osama bin Laden, the architect of the 9/11 attacks and numerous other terrorist acts, into context, Patch asked for the perspective of the mother of a local man, Bellevue resident U.S. Army Spc. Joseph V. White, who lost his life serving in Afghanistan in 2009.

White’s mother, Robyn White, told Bellevue Patch that she is still trying to process President Obama’s announcement that U.S. forces had killed bin Laden in Pakistan and what it means to her, but she said it does not necessarily bring with it closure, because terrorism has not necessarily died with bin Laden.

“Osama bin Laden was just one of many,” White said. She said she believes her son would feel similarly that there is still much work ahead of us in the war on terror intensified by 9/11.

“Joe believed in what he was doing, and even with bin Laden gone, he would say there’s more to do,” she says.

In an online memorial to Spc. White, he is described as a loyal and faithful son, and a newlywed who died in military service on Sept. 24, 2009, just two months after his 21st birthday.

Spc. White, who was born July 24, 1988, was home-schooled in Bellevue and later attended Bellevue College. After enlisting in the Army, White served a tour in Iraq with the 82nd Airborne out of Fort Bragg, N.C., the memorial says.

During that deployment, White rekindled a long-time friendship with Jessica Pierce via letters and telephone calls. The two were married upon his return, just more than a month before he deployed to Afghanistan with the Stryker Brigade from Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

It was during his tour in Afghanistan that White was killed by an IED.

In the decade since the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, 126 members of the armed forces from Washington state have died in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Another 1,099 have been wounded in action as of April 25, according to the Department of Defense.

Roughly 1,000 troops from Joint Base Lewis-McChord are deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan currently, said base spokesman Joseph Piek.

One thing that does make a difference for White and her family, she says, is that people remember her son and the service he gave to our country.

“We are proud of him,” she said. "We really appreciate when people remember our son."

For more on this news event, follow The White House Twitter feed. The Huffington Post has coverage of this news event.