Tribute helps grieving war widow

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - A gunman's rampage at an Army base last week was a setback for Robin Kurth still grieving the loss of her soldier husband but glad to be among veterans and their families on Veterans Day.

Staff Sgt. Christopher Kurth was killed in June in a grenade attack in Iraq. He and Robin had lived at Fort Hood, Texas, as newlyweds before he shipped out to Iraq on his second duty tour.

Then on Thursday an Army major allegedly opened fire at a base processing center killing 13.

“(Fort Hood) put me through a setback of grieving and everything,” Robin Kurth told KRQE News 13. “It was a nightmare.

"I didn't want to accept that it was real, knowing that it was where you once called home, and seeing all that. It was so surreal.”

On Wednesday hundreds of veterans and their families paid a special tribute to Christopher Kurth.

Robin Kurth, a Truth or Consequences native, said she Veterans Day ceremony grounded her as she was surrounded by vets from Iraq and several other wars.

A look into their faces reminded her of her husband's courage and willingness to sacrifice for his country.

Just after their marriage Chris followed his sense of duty signing up for another three years in the Army instead of getting out and returning to Alamogordo.

“He was talking about getting out in 2012 and said that if he had to do more time in the military, he would,” Robin said.

More memories came flooding back when she faced this special “Memorial to a Fallen Warrior.”

And she received special recognition, an honor she called overwhelming. It meant even more, she said, because many of those honoring her were veterans like her husband.

“I was honored to have such a great hero, and to know such a great hero in my life," Kurth said.

At Wednesday's Fallen Warriors tribute veterans also honored Sgt. Troy Tom of Beclabito near Shiprock. He died in August in an explosion in Afghanistan.