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By TERRIE MORGAN-BESECKER tmorgan@leader.net
Friday, March 21, 2003 Page: 1A
Joyce Rodak watched the bombs fall on Iraq Wednesday night and couldn’t
help but think of the children.
There were children who were about to lose their fathers, just as her own
children did in the Sept. 11, 2001, attack that killed her husband, John, a
Wilkes-Barre native.
Rodak said she “wholeheartedly” supports the decision to attack Iraq; it
might reduce the chances a terrorist act such as Sept. 11 will occur again.
But she can’t help but temper her support for America with thoughts of mercy.
“The only sad thing is there are a lot of innocent people over there. My
children lived through something so horrific. It’s sad. Their children will
have to live through the same thing,” said Rodak, 41, of Sewell, N.J.
There was no mercy for John Rodak, who was among the several thousand
people killed in the World Trade Center attacks in New York City.
Joyce Rodak said she and her two children, ages 7 and 13, take each day
“minute by minute.” John was the calming force in their lives, she said, and
she missed him all the more as she laid awake in bed Wednesday night.
“My first thought through the night, that kept me up, is what am I going
to wake up to tomorrow?” she said. “My husband was a person who could take
all my fears away. We’d sit down and talk about it, and we’d be OK. He’s not
here to take those fears away.”
Rodak said she’s also concerned the war will prompt sympathizers of Saddam
Hussein to launch a new terrorist attack on the United States.
“What crazy person may be living a mile from here who does not like what’s
going on in Iraq?” she said. “It may not be as major as 9-11, but it could
be smaller attacks around the country.”
That’s a fear shared by Anne Gola of Hanover Township, whose son-in-law,
Anthony Perez, was killed in the World Trade Center attacks.
Gola, 61, a devout Catholic, said she has prayed for peace during her daily
attendance at Mass. Once the bombing of Iraq began, she said her focus turned
to supporting her country.
Her biggest fear? That Hussein will once again survive the attempt to oust
him from power.
“If they don’t take care of the problem now, it’s going to be like another
Hitler in 1940. They had an opportunity to do something about Hitler in 1936,
but no one picked up the ball and ran with it,” she said.
As the military action continues, Rodak said she’ll face difficult choices
in deciding how much information to give her children, who are still
struggling to understand why their father died.
“As the days and months go by, it brings out different questions about
what happened to their dad,” she said. “I try to be honest with them,
without making them more fearful.”
Gola said she feels for U.S. servicemen and their families, and prays that
none will face the pain her daughter, Mary Beth, did in dealing with Anthony’s
death. She’s hopeful there will be quick resolution to the war.
“I don’t want to see anyone killed. I was out there with everyone else
praying for peace,” she said. “Peace comes at a pretty high price.”
Terrie Morgan-Besecker, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at
829-7179.