Maria's Day: A Time to Heal

Lance Corporal Maria Lauterbach is finally at rest.  She and her baby were welcomed home by family, friends and those who were touched by her life and untimely death, to be remembered as a mother, daughter, sister, friend, and yes, Marine.  The Patriot Guard flanked her arrival as uniformed Marines escorted her on her final journey.   The flag-draped coffin led the way for the smaller silver one carrying her baby, whom she had named Gabriel.

As Maria is laid to rest, we still search for Cesar Laurean and his wife remains strangely quiet--too quiet.  Maria´s suspected killer is still on the run somewhere in the holes of Mexico, and it seems to be taking a  long time to find him.   Perhaps Christina Laurean knows far more than she is letting on,  especially considering her first communication included a superior officer and an attorney in tow before she ever shared any information.    With that tack, Laurean had time to flee and in that time the military and civilian law enforcement were turned upside down with accusations of neglect and cover-up.  The wheels of justice grind ever so slowly as we wait for Laurean´s capture and Maria´s justice.

This tragic series of events brought to light inconsistent and substandard practices in the handling of military sexual abuse and subsequent trauma (MST).  It makes us look hard at what we know and now we can no longer afford to look away from what we are afraid to see.  We realize this tragedy was avoidable, preventable, like so many bad outcomes that seem to glare brightly in the morning after sequelae.   We also realize this tragedy is not unique; there are many victims, living and dead, who deserve justice, just like Maria.

But today is Maria´s day:  a day to remember a happy child who grew into a beautiful young woman, full of promise, mirth and spirit.  As the funeral came together we had a chance to see that the Marine fellowship is intact.    Always faithful, as Maria was remembered, blessed and returned to the earth,  her fellow Marines stood my her side. 

Maria´s life is not a life lived in vain.  She has become more than she ever imagined as an agent of change.  Her death opened many eyes to the delinquencies in our current military practices, with the ultimate sacrifice she offers up a torch for us to carry on.    While the manhunt for Laurean continues, the best way we can honor the two lives lost is to affect the change that needs to take place in the military--to effectively protect our enlisted so they may serve with the pride and dignity with which they entered the armed forces.  The camaraderie shown for Maria today is a step in the right direction.   

The Marines did the right thing today. 

Let the healing commence, with change.