Painful memories can't blunt a day of joy for soldier's mom

BY MARTIN C. EVANS | Newsday Staff Writer

April 1, 2006

Reminders of the day her brother died were everywhere Friday -- in newspaper headlines, on television screens and car radios.

But nothing could still the joy in Kathleen Abidin's heart.

As the release of 911 recordings from the 2001 World Trade Center attacks threatened to make Friday a sad day for Abidin, her son, Marine Cpl. Thomas Walsh, 23, was coming home safe from Iraq.

"It was sad," said Abidin, of Garden City, who heard one of the recordings early Friday morning during a television news broadcast. "It brought me back to Sept. 11. But in no way has it clouded my son's return. I can't bring my brother back, but my son is here and I'm really proud of my son."

"I can't wait to hold him and hug him and let him know how proud we are of what he has done," she said, shortly before joining about about a dozen friends and relatives who awaited Walsh's arrival Friday evening at MacArthur Airport.

And then Walsh was home, greeted in the airport's concourse with balloons, hugs, kisses and slaps on the back.

"It was going to be a surprise, but I couldn't hold it in," he said, explaining that he had told his mother of his arrival only the evening before. "I just want to relax and have a good time."

Walsh was stationed at Camp Fallujah, near the insurgent hotbed west of Baghdad. His unit was responsible for reconnaissance and often conducted door-to-door searches, not knowing what they would encounter.

"It's a dangerous place," Walsh said. "I'm relieved to be home."

Walsh, who was a cross-country star while at Commack High School, said he enlisted in January 2003 in memory of his mother's brother, James Munhall.

Munhall, 45, of Ridgewood, N.J., worked at the investment firm Sandler O'Neill & Partners, on the 104th floor of the trade center's south tower.

Family members said Munhall was thrilled by the birth of Walsh, his first nephew, and showered him with affection during his youth.

Munhall and Walsh even shared the same birthday, July 12.

"I knew he was very close with his uncle and was very upset by what happened, but I didn't think he would join," Abidin said of her son. "But one day he just said he had to do this. He didn't want to see another 9/11. That melted my heart."

"He wanted me to come meet the Marine recruiter," she said. "I think he wanted my blessing, which I gave to him even though I was scared to death."

Walsh was sent to Iraq in October. Friday was his first time back.

"That morning he left, I was really scared for him," his mother said. "But it was a decision he made and there was no changing him. I'm so proud of him. He is a hero to me."

Abidin said she would choose not to listen should her brother's voice be discovered among the emergency operator tapes.

"I'm not looking forward to listening to my brother's voice reaching out for help that never came," she said. "But I understand some people need this. We all heal in different ways."