Leslie Hurd, 39, is a Hospital Corpsman in the U.S. Navy. For nine years, she's also served as a Casualty Assistance Calls Officer, or CACO. When active-duty members of the U.S. Navy die, CACOs like Hurd are responsible for breaking the news to their families — and supporting them during their time of grief and loss.
Sometimes, the deaths are suicides. The Pentagon reported that there were 259 suicides by active-duty military service members in 2013.
During a visit to StoryCorps in Cypress, Calif., Hurd recalled a time when she had to break this most difficult news to one family.
"They notified us that a service member passed away. Our primary role was to notify the mother, and so we came up to the apartment door. And I asked if she was indeed his mother, and she said, 'Yes.'
"I asked, 'May we come in?'
"Um, 'Yes, come in.'
" 'Ma'am, on behalf of the Secretary of the Navy, I regret to inform you: Your son is dead.' "
The woman was devastated. "She lost it," Hurd recalled. "She ended up looking at me dead-square in my eyes and she said, 'What happened to him? How did he die?'
"Unfortunately, I had to let her know: 'Well, ma'am, we're being informed that he committed suicide.'
"And she looked at me, and she said, 'Not my son.' "
Hurd listened carefully. "She just knew for a fact that what I was telling her was inaccurate," she says. "And I'm not gonna argue with her. There's nothing that you can say that's gonna be right."
Hurd is the single mother of a son. "That night when I got home, I just wanted to hug my son so tight and not let him go," she said.
Later, she attended the service member's funeral. When the bereaved mother saw Hurd there, "She walked up to me and she gave me a huge hug and she told me that she appreciated everything that we had done for her and her family and for taking care of her son the way that we had."
Of her work, Hurd said: "It's not just a duty. You're there to take care of the family in their time of need and tragedy. And you just become a part of the family."
Audio produced for Weekend Edition Saturday by Von Diaz and Andrés Caballero.
This story is part of StoryCorps' Military Voices Initiative. StoryCorps is a national nonprofit that gives people the chance to interview friends and loved ones about their lives. These conversations are archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, allowing participants to leave a legacy for future generations. Learn more, including how to interview someone in your life, at StoryCorps.org.
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