| From The Times Union timesunion.com
11/09/09
Support troops, hero's family says
Relatives of Staff Sgt. Amy Seyboth Tirador await details of how she died of a gunshot wound in Iraq
By CHRISTEN GOWAN, Staff writer
First published in print: Monday, November 9, 2009
Correction: The first name of Gerard Seyboth was incorrect in previously published photo captions accompanying this story.
COLONIE -- The family of the Capital Region's first female service member killed in the war on terror is asking people to show their patriotism for all those in combat as they wait to find out the circumstances of their daughter's death.
The family of 29-year-old Staff Sgt. Amy Seyboth Tirador hosted reporters in the living room of their Gadsen Court home in Colonie Sunday night, asking people to show their support for not only their daughter, but for all troops fighting for freedom.
"They're dying every day for us," said Tirador's mother, Colleen Murphy. "People are forgetting to put their flags up."
Tirador, a 1998 Colonie Central High School graduate, was killed Wednesday in Iraq. The Department of Defense released a statement late Friday announcing that the woman died in Kirkush, Iraq, of injuries suffered in a non-combat-related incident. The investigation is ongoing, but her family said Sunday night that she died from a gunshot wound, but that her death was not a suicide.
"We don't have the details, but we'll get them someday," Murphy said.
The family remembered their daughter as hard-working, driven and as one who thrived in the structured world of the military. "She was a female soldier in a man's world," Murphy said.
Tirador worked to defy the stereotypes of women in the armed forces. "Just like any other job, there's good days and bad days. She just didn't let them get her down."
Tirador's husband, Mickey Tirador, who was stationed in Iraq on his third tour of duty, was scheduled Friday to accompany his wife's body on a flight to Dover Air Force Base.
The couple were married for three years and planned to start a family next year, Murphy said.
Amy Tirador deployed to Iraq in 2004 with the Army's 1st Infantry Division, and later worked as an Arabic-speaking interrogator assigned to the 209th Military Intelligence Company, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, based at Fort Lewis, Wash.
The brigade deployed to Iraq in August. This was her third deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Her first deployment was to Turkey from February through April 2003, and the second deployment was to Iraq from February 2004 through February 2005.
Murphy said her family has received an outpouring of support from friends and neighbors.
People have raked her leaves, brought her food and even hung new flags on her house. Now, she just wants local residents to remember those still fighting for freedom.
"What we're looking for right now is the honor that Amy deserves and that the rest of the soldiers deserve," Murphy said.
Tirador's family said she will be buried in Saratoga National Cemetery in a full military funeral. |
