Wentz-Graff Media

Storytelling: A Love Interrupted

Kristen Nelson, 20, knows the true sacrifice that military families are giving in these times of war. Her husband, Marine Cpl. Ricky Nelson is serving his second tour of duty in Iraq.  

Although Kristen is young, her sacrifice is great, even greater than she ever anticipated 

  • {quote}They look better than my first ones that I made a couple weeks ago{quote} says Kristen as she takes a batch of cookies out of the oven. Staying connected to family is really important for Ricky, so she writes him letters every day, and includes little surprises with them, like his favorite cookies. She knows she is spoiling him, but says {quote}when he gets home it will be different--back to normal--that's for sure.{quote}
  • Ricky and Kristen were high school sweethearts and married just after they graduated from high school. Ricky might be a macho-man with his friends, but he turns to mush around his wife. He planned ahead for  Valentine's Day, sending a hand written card to the florist to include with the flowers. He knows these small things help Kristen cope with his absence.
  • Tragedy strikes the young newlyweds, and Kristen finds out that her husband has been killed in a roadside bomb. They have been married for just 51-weeks. A memorial is held at Christian Life School where both Kristen and Ricky attended. Kristen, still reeling from the news she learned just a few days previous, visits the memorial and is supported by friends and family, including Ricky's grandmother, left.
  • Kristen sits on the couch as Marines give their condolences and discuss arrangements with the family, including his parents Lennie and Susan Nelson, left. The family still does not yet know exactly how Ricky died, and await the return of his body.
  • {quote}This is not the homecoming you ever imagined,{quote} says Kristen later, about watching Ricky's casket be unloaded at the Kenosha Regional Airport. The family stood huddled together on that damp, cold morning. Kristen's father Todd Fedler, right) strokes her head as she watches Ricky's casket be unloaded at the Kenosha Regional Airport tarmac. Also with Kristen are Ricky's family, grandmother Edith Mercier, far left, father Lennie, center left, and mother Susan.
  • {quote}I expected when I touched his coffin I would feel some sort of a connection,{quote} says Kristen Nelson, of  the first time that she touched Ricky's casket. {quote}The first time I touched it, I felt nothing, because he's not there.  It's just an empty feeling knowing that he's not here with us at all. It was just a horrible feeling.” Ricky's body was returned one day after what would have been the couple's first wedding anniversary.
  • Marine's carry Ricky's casket into the empty church in preparation for his funeral at First Assembly of God in Kenosha.
  • Kristen is reluctant to receive the folded flag from her husband's casket and a Purple Heart, at his interment ceremony at the Southern Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Union Grove. She thinks that losing a loved one on a far-off battlefield is something that happens in the movies, not something that happens to her.
  • Well after the funeral, Cpl. Ricky Nelson's headstone is engraved, clamped for alignment at the Southern Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery. The remainder of  the row has blank headstones, an eerie prediction that more soldiers will die, and more families will make the ultimate sacrifice, just as Kristen did.
  • Kristen looks over Ricky's belongings, returned to her in two large footlockers. {quote}I was still waiting for them to say they made a mistake--it was the wrong guy,{quote} says Kristen. {quote}When they pulled out his t-shirts and his pair of jeans-- that was when l just lost it. ...It really did happen. It was him. It's not some other guy. Just to know that was the last stuff he touched...it's just very difficult.{quote} The boxes have sat in the center of their bedroom for weeks and she hasn't been able to unpack them.
  • {quote}Losing Ricky is very tragic and heartbreaking,{quote} reads Kristen, from a letter written to the family by a stranger. {quote}I've sat here every night for the past week trying to find the right words to help comfort you in your greatest time of need before realizing there aren't any right words.{quote} The family has received thousands of cards and letters from people throughout the world. They said they bring them comfort, and are diligent to read every single one. She and Ricky's mom Susan read them together.
  • Since Ricky's death, Kristen hasn't been able to sleep in their bed. Instead, she sleeps on the pull out bed in their living room. {quote}Every morning I wake up and I see his cardboard cutout,{quote} she says.  {quote}I replay that scene when the Marines came to the door and told me the news. I still replay that in my mind everyday. Reality hits you again, every morning. You wake up and still hope this was all a dream. I don't know when it will finally him me that obviously this is not a dream.{quote}
  • Cpl. Richard {quote}Ricky{quote} Nelson was killed in action during his second tour of duty in Iraq on April 14, 2008. He was 23. In this audio slideshow, his wife, Kristen, shares their story.
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