The Army released a statement yesterday saying that there was no bullet wound or visible injury in the death of an Army captain who died downrange while talking to his wife over Skype.
Capt. Bruce Kevin Clark’s family had released a statement over the weekend indicating that after he suddenly disappeared from the screen during the chat session, his wife was able to spot what appeared to be a bullet hole in the closet behind him.
While no official cause of death has been released (an autoposy toxicity report is in the works) the Army is certain that a weapon was not involved in Clark’s death.
It would be easy to condemn Susan Orellana-Clark, Clark’s wife, for speaking about her husband’s death before all the information was available, for saying that foul play was involved and insinuating that the Army wasn’t telling the whole story.
But put yourself in her shoes for a moment. Your husband vanishes from a Skype call and does not come back, although the connection to his room stays active. You sit and scrutinize the screen, looking for any clues of your husband as you make frantic phone calls trying to get someone downrange to come to his room and check on him. At long last two men come in and check your husband’s pulse, but provide no details on what they think has happened to him – other than that he is not alive.
Your world shatters. Your mind races. You want answers – but the military gives you nothing except that they are investigating.
And then the rumors start to fly. With the lack of information to the contrary, people start assuming that your husband killed himself. And you hate that — you hate that people think that.
So you do what anyone would do. You make a statement giving your version of the events – saying that you think foul play was involved.
And that’s what Susan did. And who can blame her? Her search for answers and inaccurate statement just bring this story that much closer to our hearts, and lets us relate to her that much more.
When we at SpouseBuzz run stories about events like this one or spouses notified of their husbands’ deaths via Facebook or text message, we often hear back that the people we are writing about have read our posts and appreciate the sympathy we and our readers feel for them. Feel free to leave your notes for Susan below.
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This story is just so sad. She shouldn't be judged at all. I just can't even imagine what she had to go through :(
So sad. I cannot imagine how horrible that would be, for her to witness her husband's death and then have to wait and wonder what had happened. It's sad that those rumors started to spread in the first place, and that she even had the need to defend her husband. She needs our support, not judgement, because none of us know what we would do in that situation unless faced with it. I hope she receives answers quickly. She and her family are in my prayers.
I am so sorry for her great loss, and I wish that the Army personnel who came into the room had said something to her on the camera.
my sympathies to the family. as a veteran, I understand why the soldiers who entered the room didn't comment. I hope the couples final moments together were happy ones, I'm sure they were able to express their feelings toward one another. More often than not we never get to say we love them before we lose them.
I feel so terrible for her, this experience is surely traumatic and I can't even imagine (or don't want to) what she's going through.
Hopefully the same investigators in charge of the Pat Tillman death, are not placed in charge of this sad event?
What gets me is how it took two hours, after repeated phone calls and pleas, for someone to check on him. I don't know that I would have handled it any differently. Mrs. Clark, we stand with you.
@ Glenda, apparently, he was on a top secret mission with some Navy Seals. She didn't even know that he was in Afghanistan, so it just took a while to get a phone call to the correct people.
Tomorrow is his funeral. Please just keep her and her daughters in prayer.