Local military moms react to bin Laden's death
HOUSTON
They are never shy about showing their patriotism, and news of bin Laden's death has these military moms beaming with each honk of a passing car.
"It means you can run and you can hide. But you can't hide from the U.S. military or our God," said Fanda Mathis.
Tracy Toutcheque's son Bret was killed in 2006 by an improvised explosive device in Iraq. He enlisted because of the 9-11 attacks.
"He said, 'Mom, I've enlisted. This is not going to happen on our soil. I've got a two-year-old son to think about,'" said Toutcheque.
Nearly a decade after the worst attack on American soil, for these women, there is now a bit of closure.
"For retribution, for what they have done to America and American citizens, innocent American citizens," said Mathis.
All the women are members of the Military Moms & Wives of Brazoria County in Angleton. They volunteer their time collecting and preparing care packages for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Everything is just neatly packed in there. And we utilize every inch of space in here," said Mary Moreno of Military Moms & Wives of Brazoria County.
With bin Laden now out of the way, some wonder if it's time to scale back U.S. troops in the Middle East.
"Absolutely not. There are still people over there that are going to continue what he was doing," said Toutcheque.
"I was for finding him, and the people responsible for planning the 9-11 attacks. But I don't feel that we have to be the police all over the world," said Mathis.
Military Moms & Wives of Brazoria County are also getting ready to ship out about 3,500 care packages to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. The all volunteer group says to ship that many care packages to the Middle East will cost about $50,000, and they are always in need of volunteers.
