Ellicia Stanley & her husband SPC Reid Stanley
I received and email from Wednesday Hero Blogroll member Mary Ann in which she suggested that I profile the spouse of a soldier. Seeing as I’d profiled one such spouse in the past, I though this was the perfect opportunity to do it again. I hadn’t read the entire letter before I said yes, but after reading it I’m glad she sent it to me.
I think military families, especially the spouses, while they sign no contract, serve our country just as much as the service member. They give up familiar home ties and relocate all over the country, all over the world. They give up their civilian lives for something bigger than themselves. Ellicia was a military wife for only two and a half years. Before they married, but after 9/11, Reid came to her and told her of his desire to enlist. He wanted to do his part. He tells part of the story in his blog post Why I Joined the Army.
She encouraged him, pushing him so he could meet his goal of serving his country. He did and took his oath in October 2002. By the time they were married in July 2004, Reid was already stationed in Germany. It was 3 months before she could join him there. In a move that, for someone who’d seldom left her hometown in South Carolina, must have come as quite an adjustment. But she did it, as do so many other military wives. Then came deployment to Afghanistan in May 2005. They spent their first anniversary apart. Reid writes about that anniversary in this post My Hero.
It was in the sixth month of deployment when Ellicia received the news — she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Devastating. However, in an email to me on the day she received her diagnosis, the phrase she used was, “not stellar news”. Understated, calm, steady, no hysteria, it was another challenge to face. I came to admire her because, I too, had been away from home, (not to a foreign country), with a one small child (not three), and my husband traveling (not in a war zone). Knowing what my experience had been like, I was amazed at how she took it all in stride. Even when faced with a terminal diagnosis, she faced it all with grace, dignity and humor. All the while supporting her husband, the mission and the country.Reid was given compassionate leave back to Germany in November 2005. For the next thirteen months they fought their own personal war with cancer…breast, lung…and finally eleven tumors in her brain.In November 2006 the Stanley’s took compassionate reassignment back to the U.S. to Ft. Eustis, Virginia.
On 31 December 2006, Ellicia lost her battle. But her spirit lives on in her husband, her children, and the many people she inspired with her courage.
These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived
This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. If you would like to participate in honoring the brave men and women who serve this great country, you can find out how by clicking here.
Wednesday Hero is the brainchild of Indian Chris of Right Wing Right Minded. He so graciously puts these posts together for all of us to post so that we may get the stories of our heroes out there!
Funny, the timing of some things.
Indeed Mary*Ann.
I don’t think too many people have effected me like this young couple has. My prayers are still with SPC Stanley and his family.
Makes you want to hug your own more than ever on this Valentine’s Day. This young woman’s courage & dignity was/is a great testimony to us all. What selflessness! God bless her husband & children.
This was such a moving post. I lost my brother to cancer in ‘71.He was 21. He too was a fighter and remarkable young man. This was such a hard post for me to read. But I am very glad you shared this brave woman’s story.
I offer my sincerest condolences to SPC Stanly and his children. When my brother died, his suffering was so great, we were ready for his passing. Knowing his suffering was finally over, gave us some peace.I hope that SPC Stanly will find some measure of peace in that knowledge too.
M*A, circles within circles…weaving together!
They really got to my heart, too, G!
There is no doubt that Ellicia is with them still, Trish. She is an eternal part of them. And even those of us who had not met her and only knew of her have been changed by her courage and love.
Devildog, I have lost both my mom and my mother-in-law to cancer and that is hard enough when you are an adult. I pray that Ellicia’s children will always know how much their mother loved them and I know that Reid will keep her memory alive for them because she is a part of them all.
(It was a difficult blessing for my mother-in-law’s passing as well. The pain and discomfort was so great for her as well.)
You do great work here. Love to come and read about our true heroes. I e-mailed to become part of Wednesday Hero. Thanks for the heads up.
Glad you’re going to join us, Malinda! I love getting the good word out there on our troops and all the wonderful things they’re doing.