Published: April 19, 2009 01:53 am      

Spc. Heath Pickard's family moving forward

WALSTON SPRINGS — Framed family photos and a photo blanket adorn the walls of Margaret Pickard’s cozy living room, photos of children and grandchildren but especially of one grandson, Spc. Heath Pickard.

Six months have passed since the family learned of the 21-year-old’s death in Iraq, caused by a mortar and rocket-fired grenade attack on his unit as the soldiers were being briefed at their base.

The Army flew Pickard’s body to Tyler on Oct. 22, and an honor guard escorted him from there, past Frankston High School where the small red-headed boy with the big grin had graduated and where students lined the road as the hearse passed, and on into Palestine where more students and well-wishers waved flags and paid their respect for the first Anderson County soldier to die in either Iraq or Afghanistan.

Several hundred people turned out to honor Pickard, from friends and family members to local law enforcement, firefighters and Patriot Guard riders standing silent watch, to strangers standing in groups with American flags along the route of the funeral procession in a touching display of love, family members said.

But wounds still remain.

Heath’s older brother Austin, who also serves in the Army, flew in from Germany for the funeral and shortly after returning to base, was informed that he was being transferred to Iraq, to the same base and same unit that his brother had been in at the time of his death.

Although his orders were changed and Austin was sent to a different base, he still remains in Iraq, with the ever-present thought that something could happen to another Pickard.

Instead of dwelling on worry and loss, family members are focusing on memories of good times spent with a young man with a constant smile who loved to tease and joke.

“Heath’s in a better place,” Margaret said. “He had a beautiful voice. I didn’t know it until he got back from basic (training graduation) in Georgia. He loved (country singer) Gary Allen.”

He had his younger brother Chance convinced that someone had offered him a recording contract, Sara said, and recalled another tall tale that her husband had told his brother, embellishing how great the stereo and speakers were on his Tahoe when in reality it only had one speaker that worked.

“He told him he had it all pimped up and had all the best stereo,” Sara said. “His best friend Palmer tried to put in these special speakers to make it (more) bass and he blew out three of the speakers. He only had one that worked. It really didn’t sound good at all.”

“He liked to stretch things,” Margaret said, smiling.

Dealing with losing her husband after a year and a half of marriage hasn’t been easy but friends and family have helped, Sara said, including their nine-month-old son Ethan, who scoots along on his hands and knees and grins like his father.

“It almost feels like it’s not real,” she said. “When he left, I was preparing to not see him for a year. It almost feels like it’s still not real because he technically wouldn’t even be home yet.”

When his unit arrives home from Iraq is when the realization will probably hit hardest, she said.

“I don’t know, I think it will be a big shock when everyone else comes back and he doesn’t,” Sara said. “We all became really good friends.

“It’s hard but I had already gone through the whole ‘I miss him, he’s gone’ thing and now that he’s dead, I still miss him just as much as I had before, so it’s just weird.”

While the pain remains, the remarkable outpouring of thanks and support from strangers around the country has helped family members move forward.

Hundreds of cards and e-mails have arrived, along with photographs, oil paintings and angels.

The military support group, Soldiers’ Angels, sent an embroidered fleece blanket. Another group, Angels for Hope, sent three crocheted angels with a message of comfort attached.

“I got a CD from a man whose daughter went over there on her 18th birthday and she was killed, I think, a year later,” Margaret said. “He did this CD to honor her. He has her playing her flute from the band in school at the beginning of it, and just all sorts of things.”

Friends of Heath and his wife Sara posted messages to their MySpace pages.

“Somebody sent me in the mail a quilt that a bunch of people had all put together from kids,” Sara said. “They drew a picture or put together a little something and (put) it together and folded it up nicely in a pillowcase that had a flag on it. It was really cool.”

The response has been amazing, Margaret said.

“I was really amazed,” she said. “They’re still coming in. The Soldiers’ Angels, I’ve got a stack about this tall of cards and letters from them. Now that I’m not working, I’m going to sit down and write a lot of them because a lot of them gave their e-mail address and everything.”

Some of the items have been therapeutic, inspiring her to act in return, Margaret said.

“I’m going to see what I can do to became a Soldiers’ Angel,” she said. “The Angels for Hope, I think I can crochet those and crochet a bunch of them up and send them to them.”

As for Sara, the Army will pay for her college education, she said. She plans to take advantage of the offer but has yet to decide whether to remain in Alaska or to relocate closer to her husband’s family.