Feb 13, 2005 By Rebekah Sungala 4 min read

Clutching a folded American flag in her arms, Kathleen Huey, the mother of Staff Sgt. Sean P. Huey, sat quietly and listened as “Taps” was played in honor of her son, who died in Iraq last November. People who came out to pay tribute to her son lined the streets of Fredericktown Saturday afternoon during a memorial service. Tears were shed as members of the Fredericktown American Legion Post 391 and legionnaires from surrounding communities marched down the street, flags waving in the cold air.

After the service, people lined up to give the Hueys their condolences and to thank them for raising a brave son who was willing to defend and die for his country.

Huey, formerly of Fredericktown, was killed Nov. 11, 2004, when a bomb detonated outside of Fallujah in the town of Habbaniyah, Iraq. He was a member of the United States Army 82nd Airborne Division.

Kathleen Huey said her daughter-in-law called her to tell her that her son had been killed. Twenty minutes later, she said two officers from the U.S. Army knocked on her front door.

“I’m glad that my daughter-in-law called me first,” Kathleen Huey said. “I would have probably had a heart attack.”

Kathleen Huey said that she remembers the last time she spoke with her son. It was before Halloween, and he had told her not to worry about him.

“He said that he was doing OK. We talked about his little boy and different things. He said not to worry if we didn’t hear from him as often because he was going to be out on patrol,” she said.

His mother, who wore a silver American flag bracelet with her son’s name engraved on it on her wrist, said that her grandson, who will soon be 14 months old, reminds her of her son.

“He has his eyes,” she said, “and his temperament. When he wants to do something, he does it.”

Kathleen Huey said that her son always wanted to join the Army. He asked her to sign for him when he was 17 years old so that he could join early, but she refused.

“I told him no, that I couldn’t have that guilt on me if something would have happened to him, knowing that I signed the papers,” she said. “He signed up as soon as he turned 18, and he loved it.”

Kathleen Huey said that she thought her son, who was stationed in South Korea, was safe. However, having volunteered to go to Iraq, he soon found himself in the middle of the war-torn country.

“I didn’t want him to go,” she said. “I worried about him.”

Kathleen Huey said that she will miss her son’s innate ability to make others laugh the most. “He was always joking, always laughing,” she said.

Her husband, Robert, said that he couldn’t repeat his son’s favorite joke, but laughed thinking about it.

Robert Huey said that he is sure his son would have made the military his career.

“He loved the lifestyle,” Robert Huey said, even though it didn’t leave the up-and-coming sergeant much time to spend with his son.

Robert Huey said that his son was a great father.

“He only got to see Joey two months,” Kathleen Huey said. “That’s the really sad part.”

She said that her son and his wife named Joey in honor of Penn State Coach Joe Paterno.

“Sean sent us a picture from when he was still stationed in South Korea, and he even had a Penn State bedspread,” Kathleen Huey said. “He loved anything Penn State.”

Huey’s parents said that they will miss their son, but that they are proud of him.

Kathleen Huey said she will hang a War Mother’s Flag in her window in honor of her son and in support of all the other troops who are serving their country. The white flag trimmed in red has a gold star in the middle of it, a reminder to all that soldiers are willing to die in order to defend the rights of people all over the world.

“I miss him,” she said, “but I’m proud of Sean, extremely proud.”