He Was The Greatest Man I Ever Knew
(May 15, 2011) |
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USMC Cpl. Crystle Bishop, an ammunition technician with Combat Logistics Regiment 2, poses for a photograph aboard Camp Lejeune, N.C. May 11, 2011. Bishop's husband was killed in action in Afghanistan while she was seven months pregnant with her now six-month-old daughter. |
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CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (MCN - 5/12/2011) — Thousands of
service members have made the ultimate sacrifice
over the past 10 years in Iraq and Afghanistan while
serving in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and
Operation Enduring Freedom.
These service
members leave behind families who make significant
sacrifices of their own. Mother's sacrifice their
sons and daughters, spouses are widowed by the death
of their husband or wife, and children grow up
without fathers and mothers.
Cpl. Crystle
Bishop, an ammunition technician with Combat
Logistics Regiment 2, 2nd Marine Logistics Group,
lost her husband while she was just seven months
pregnant.
 Her
husband, Cpl. John
Bishop, was serving as a machine gunner for 2nd
Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, when he lost his
life in Afghanistan.
The newlywed couple was
expecting their first child, now six-month-old
Ella-Monica, but John had also fathered a
five-year-old son from a previous marriage.
“I remember the day he left,” said Bishop. “I was
driving his son, K'Sean, to his mother's house and I
was crying so badly. K'Sean said to me ‘It's okay,
daddy will be home soon and you |
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can be warm again.' |
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“He's so much like his dad,” she continued. “He's so caring
and loving. His dad was his whole world and K'Sean was
John's too.”
Bishop began going about her life just
like any other family member separated by deployment. She
sent care packages and included ultrasound pictures of their
then unborn daughter.
“He never got [the ultrasound
pictures]. They were sent back to me. It was like a punch in
the face,” she said.
She awaited his calls and
cherished the moments when she could hear his voice.
“The first time he called me [from Afghanistan], I was at
the pool with my best friend and my phone rang, I looked at
the number and thought and didn't know who it was, but I
answered anyway and all he said was ‘Hey babe.' and I
started crying. From then on, every time he called I would
cry.
“The last conversation we had was like 30
minutes long,” she continued as she recalled that September
day. “I told him I loved him, how much I missed him, how the
baby was doing. It was so good. Everything seemed so great.”
It was just a short week later that Bishop received the
news that her husband had been killed in action.
“I
was at a [class] in Raleigh and I was told I needed to go
back to base.” she explained. “I thought it had something to
do with the barracks. I was mad, wondering why they couldn't
wait for the [class] to be over.”
“When they started
to tell me, I didn't think they were going to tell me it was
John. He was just so good at his job that it didn't even
cross my mind.”
Although Bishop's husband is gone she
still has a little piece of him in their daughter.
“When I look at her I see him-you can't escape it. Her eyes,
the way they are set, it's him,” explained Bishop.
Despite the tragedy that is still new to her, Bishop has
surpassed all expectations and continues to be an
extraordinary non-commissioned officer, said Sgt. Maj.
Charles Blumenberg, CLR-2 sergeant major.
“I am new
to the unit and had no idea that this corporal had lost her
husband and didn't even know she had a baby,” Blumenberg
said. “I didn't know until I asked leadership about her,
because she stood out to me.
“She is the embodiment
of [the Marine Corps'] core values and is the shining
example of what an NCO should be,” he continued. “She does
not flinch in her duties as an NCO. She is everything the
NCO creed says she should be. She is a single mom and an NCO
and she comes to work early and leaves late if need be.”
Bishop was nominated by her regimental sergeant major to
attend a Mother's Day tea party at the White House May 6,
2011.
Dr. Jill Biden and First Lady Michelle Obama
hosted the tea party to show their appreciation for military
spouses.
“It was an exciting experience,” she said.
“It makes you realize you're just this little piece of a
much bigger picture.”
As Bishop continues to cope
with her loss and focuses on raising her daughter, she is
left with the memory of her honorable husband.
“He
was the greatest man I ever knew,” said Bishop. “If we ever
had a problem we talked about it and worked to make it
better. If I was feeling down he made the situation silly.
Together, we had everything we could ever want.
“I
have his flags and all of his awards put away,” she
continued. “So one day when Ella-Monica is old enough, and
she asks why she doesn't have a daddy, I will be able to
tell her she does and that he died a great, honorable man.” |
Article and photo by USMC Cpl. Melissa A. Latty
2nd Marine Logistics Group
Copyright 2011 | |
Reprinted from
Marine Corps News
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