Sunday, June 29, 2003
Welcome Home Hero
KEEP YOUR HELMET ON!
A soldier makes it home in time
Army specialist Ryan Hoey makes it back from Iraq to mourn the death of his mother
Sunday, June 29, 2003
By DIANE O'DONNELL
STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE
Operation Enduring Strength. That's what fueled the siblings of Army specialist Ryan Hoey to bring their brother home from Iraq to attend their mother's funeral.
Led by Tammy Gallo, the third oldest of Kathleen Gallagher's nine children, the crusade began on June 15 when her mother was ailing in Staten Island University Hospital in Ocean Breeze.
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A phone call to Hoey's Fort Sill base in Lawton, Okla., put the 33-year-old Tottenville woman in touch with Sgt. Alma Bass who instructed her to contact the American Red Cross. The agency contacted the 231st Target Acquisition Division where he was a member of a radar unit in Iraq.
Within hours of notifying the agency of her mother's critical condition, the 57-year-old Rosebank woman died.
In times of conflict and war, the Red Cross serves as the main communication between troops and their families. Since November the agency has seen a 48 percent increase in communications, said Neal Gorman, a Red Cross spokesman.
In March the agency handled 5,997 serious health and death messages and 1,432 for birth announcements. There are currently 36 Red Cross emergency communication staff in Kuwait, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
At midnight on June 16, Mrs. Gallo was informed by the Red Cross that her brother was on the move in the desert at an undisclosed location.
"On the 17th I still had not heard anything," said Mrs. Gallo, whose concern grew with each passing hour as she planned funeral arrangements. First thing that morning she called the borough president's office who referred her to Rep. Vito Fossella's office.
By 9:30 a.m., Mrs. Gallo was on a conference call with Sherry Diamond, district director of the Republican congressman's borough office and Loren Smith, Fossella's legislative assistant in Washington, D.C. Smith, in turn, contacted the Army's liaison office on Capitol Hill.
A little over five hours later on Tuesday, Mrs. Gallo received a phone call from her brother.
"I felt relieved, but I still had a mission. I had to get him home," said Mrs. Gallo, who had power of attorney for her brother's affairs while he was enlisted.
She thought her brother would be on a convoy the next morning to Kuwait International Airport. A phone call Wednesday morning from Fossella bolstered her spirits.
But delays pushed Hoey's departure to Thursday, the first day of Ms. Gallagher's wake.
Distraught, Mrs. Gallo began another series of phone calls to the Red Cross, Sgt. Bass and Fossella's office. At 9 p.m. Kuwait time, Hoey's military flight was scheduled to take off. But it didn't.
"From there the waiting game began," said Hoey relating how his flight was delayed three successive times, then canceled at 11 p.m.
The next available flight would be 12 hours later and land in Baltimore, ruling out any chance of coming home in time for the wake.
Frantic calls ensued between Hoey and his sister, who added call waiting, call forwarding and 3-way calling to her phone to deal with the crisis. In all, Mrs. Gallo estimates she logged over 200 phone calls between agencies, officials and family.
"More than anything I wanted to be there for my family," said Hoey.
Stateside, Mrs. Gallo and her family began scouring the Internet in search of flights out of Kuwait.
Meanwhile, through interpreters from the Air Force and Marines, Hoey was told of a civilian flight that would cost $1,100 on Kuwait Air. With a 9 a.m. departure on Friday, Kuwait time, the direct flight to John F. Kennedy International Airport would just make the last viewing at Virginia Funeral Chapel.
"You never saw so many people move so fast at ATMs," said Mrs. Gallo who mobilized her siblings and wired the money within minutes.
At 4:30 p.m. Friday, Hoey arrived at the airport and rushed to the Dongan Hills funeral home for the last viewing of his mother.
"We're a very strong family, that's the way our mother raised us," said Mrs. Gallo. "Our strength with each other has really helped us through."
Although Hoey's homecoming was bittersweet, the 27-year-old received good news -- the Army will reimburse the cost of his airfare and he will spend the remainder of his military hitch at Fort Sill.
At least 58 U.S. troops have died in Iraq since major combat was declared on May 1. Hoey will be discharged September 2004.
Diane O'Donnell is a news reporter for the Advance. She may be reached at odonnell@siadvance.com.
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A soldier makes it home in time
Army specialist Ryan Hoey makes it back from Iraq to mourn the death of his mother
Sunday, June 29, 2003
By DIANE O'DONNELL
STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE
Operation Enduring Strength. That's what fueled the siblings of Army specialist Ryan Hoey to bring their brother home from Iraq to attend their mother's funeral.
Led by Tammy Gallo, the third oldest of Kathleen Gallagher's nine children, the crusade began on June 15 when her mother was ailing in Staten Island University Hospital in Ocean Breeze.
Try Our Classifieds
A phone call to Hoey's Fort Sill base in Lawton, Okla., put the 33-year-old Tottenville woman in touch with Sgt. Alma Bass who instructed her to contact the American Red Cross. The agency contacted the 231st Target Acquisition Division where he was a member of a radar unit in Iraq.
Within hours of notifying the agency of her mother's critical condition, the 57-year-old Rosebank woman died.
In times of conflict and war, the Red Cross serves as the main communication between troops and their families. Since November the agency has seen a 48 percent increase in communications, said Neal Gorman, a Red Cross spokesman.
In March the agency handled 5,997 serious health and death messages and 1,432 for birth announcements. There are currently 36 Red Cross emergency communication staff in Kuwait, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
At midnight on June 16, Mrs. Gallo was informed by the Red Cross that her brother was on the move in the desert at an undisclosed location.
"On the 17th I still had not heard anything," said Mrs. Gallo, whose concern grew with each passing hour as she planned funeral arrangements. First thing that morning she called the borough president's office who referred her to Rep. Vito Fossella's office.
By 9:30 a.m., Mrs. Gallo was on a conference call with Sherry Diamond, district director of the Republican congressman's borough office and Loren Smith, Fossella's legislative assistant in Washington, D.C. Smith, in turn, contacted the Army's liaison office on Capitol Hill.
A little over five hours later on Tuesday, Mrs. Gallo received a phone call from her brother.
"I felt relieved, but I still had a mission. I had to get him home," said Mrs. Gallo, who had power of attorney for her brother's affairs while he was enlisted.
She thought her brother would be on a convoy the next morning to Kuwait International Airport. A phone call Wednesday morning from Fossella bolstered her spirits.
But delays pushed Hoey's departure to Thursday, the first day of Ms. Gallagher's wake.
Distraught, Mrs. Gallo began another series of phone calls to the Red Cross, Sgt. Bass and Fossella's office. At 9 p.m. Kuwait time, Hoey's military flight was scheduled to take off. But it didn't.
"From there the waiting game began," said Hoey relating how his flight was delayed three successive times, then canceled at 11 p.m.
The next available flight would be 12 hours later and land in Baltimore, ruling out any chance of coming home in time for the wake.
Frantic calls ensued between Hoey and his sister, who added call waiting, call forwarding and 3-way calling to her phone to deal with the crisis. In all, Mrs. Gallo estimates she logged over 200 phone calls between agencies, officials and family.
"More than anything I wanted to be there for my family," said Hoey.
Stateside, Mrs. Gallo and her family began scouring the Internet in search of flights out of Kuwait.
Meanwhile, through interpreters from the Air Force and Marines, Hoey was told of a civilian flight that would cost $1,100 on Kuwait Air. With a 9 a.m. departure on Friday, Kuwait time, the direct flight to John F. Kennedy International Airport would just make the last viewing at Virginia Funeral Chapel.
"You never saw so many people move so fast at ATMs," said Mrs. Gallo who mobilized her siblings and wired the money within minutes.
At 4:30 p.m. Friday, Hoey arrived at the airport and rushed to the Dongan Hills funeral home for the last viewing of his mother.
"We're a very strong family, that's the way our mother raised us," said Mrs. Gallo. "Our strength with each other has really helped us through."
Although Hoey's homecoming was bittersweet, the 27-year-old received good news -- the Army will reimburse the cost of his airfare and he will spend the remainder of his military hitch at Fort Sill.
At least 58 U.S. troops have died in Iraq since major combat was declared on May 1. Hoey will be discharged September 2004.
Diane O'Donnell is a news reporter for the Advance. She may be reached at odonnell@siadvance.com.
