Bin Laden death is bittersweet for some

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - For two Gold Star mothers in West Central Indiana, news that Osama bin Laden is dead is bittersweet. It proved to them that their sons didn't die in vain, but it made their sense of loss all the more prominent.

Last month, Pam Mow, of Tippecanoe County, remembered the fourth anniversary of her son Cody Putman's death. This week, she said news that al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was killed was a bittersweet victory that made her proud of her son.

"Maybe it's a justification of a mother who's lost her son, but Cody could have been walking down the street, and been hit by a car," Mow said.

"My first thought was, 'Bryan would've been celebrating with his buddies right now,'" said Brenda Wilson, of Warren County.

Bryan Wilson was killed in Iraq in December 2004. His mother Brenda said bin Laden's death was a small comfort, but she knows he was just one link in the al-Qaeda chain.

"I think that if you talk to any military person, they're focused on the job that they have to do, and they're protecting our country," she said.

"As we're coming up on the year of this 10th anniversary of 9/11, this is just a fitting tribute to our troops that are continuing to fight, our fallen soldiers, and the people that were killed on 9/11," said Mow.

And as the death of bin Laden, just one man, has followed the deaths of thousands of Americans, some may ask, "Was it worth it?"

"In a way I can say, 'Yes, it was worth it.' But I would do anything to have my son back again, also," Mow said.

"There's times I ask myself, 'Is it worth it?'" said Wilson. "But then there's other times I know that my son enjoyed what he was doing. He believed in what he was doing. And I think that, given the choice, he'd do it again."