Pfc. Joey Whitener made a surprise visit home to McDowell County, N.C., for the birth of his first child, Tristan. But then he had to return to Iraq. His wife e-mailed baby pictures to her husband, and used a Web cam to show him his son. "I would turn on Web cam and let him see Tristan," Beth Whitener said. "He would just sit there and cry." Whitener, 19, died Nov. 15 when two Black Hawk helicopters crashed in northern Iraq. He was based at Fort Campbell. A member of the Navy JROTC in high school, Whitener had hoped the military could help him become a doctor, said Ruth Fortune, his foster mother. He was a kindhearted, respectful young man, she said. Whitener came to visit Fortune and her husband after his son's birth. "He was so proud of that baby," Fortune said. "When he started to leave, he gave me a big hug and told me he loved me."
Pfc. Joey Whitener made a surprise visit home to McDowell County, N.C., for the birth of his first child, Tristan. But then he had to return to Iraq. His wife e-mailed baby pictures to her husband, and used a Web cam to show him his son. "I would turn on Web cam and let him see Tristan," Beth Whitener said. "He would just sit there and cry." Whitener, 19, died Nov. 15 when two Black Hawk helicopters crashed in northern Iraq. He was based at Fort Campbell. A member of the Navy JROTC in high school, Whitener had hoped the military could help him become a doctor, said Ruth Fortune, his foster mother. He was a kindhearted, respectful young man, she said. Whitener came to visit Fortune and her husband after his son's birth. "He was so proud of that baby," Fortune said. "When he started to leave, he gave me a big hug and told me he loved me."
