Posted on 09/15/2014 4:51:09 PM PDT by thestob
ABERNATHY, TX (KCBD) - Army Sergeant Virginia Caballero, 41, has died while serving overseas. Caballero was traveling home Friday to surprise her family in Abernathy.
But a medical problem forced the plane she was on to make an emergency landing in Rockford Illinois.
Family says she had a blood clot that traveled to her heart. Caballero later died at the Rockford Memorial Hospital.
She was serving her second deployment and had been stationed in Kuwait.
She was deployed to Iraq for her first tour in 2003, where she was shot in a vehicle ambush just two months into her tour.
The ambush left her with scars and a Purple Heart; she was the first woman who served in Iraq to receive the Purple Heart.
Her family and loved ones gathered at the Veterans Memorial in Abernathy, where her name is among more than a thousand bricks bearing the name of men and women who have served from the Abernathy area.
She graduated from Abernathy High School in 1991 and much of her family still lives there.
Her sister, Suzie Caballero Turner, says the spirit of her sister will never leave them.
"She is not a 'was,'" Turner says. "She is still with us. She will always be with us. She is so strong, she is the one who held this family together."
Her family received the news Saturday morning and they say they are still in shock.
"She was so strong. So healthy," her brother, Joe, says. "Nobody can believe that something like this would ever happen to her."
Her family says they are proud of her accomplishments and will never forget her bright personality.
Funeral arrangements are pending, we will update this story as we learn more.
R.I.P, Sergeant.
Odd headline. Would have made a lot more sense to say “Local soldier dies of wounds”.
Lot of Purple Heart recipients die on active duty. Usually one in four, on average.
A ew years ago there was an FR thread about a U.S. WWII vet that died of his wounds 70 years after receiving them.
Yes - I saw a lot of guys die months, even years after they were hit. Even I could after all these years from these lousy blood clots. Have no idea if that would get my name added to the Wall or not.
It sounds like she experienced a "deep vein thrombosis" (aka:"DVT") which is known to happen to some people during long flights.My cardiologist has told me that I'm at risk for it so he recommends that I never spend more than an hour at a time in my seat.He says "get up,walk around,drink lots of water".My sense is that she didn't die of wounds...that is,if I'm not reading this incorrectly.
I guess the question you’d have to ask is whether she would have experienced DVT if she hadn’t been wounded in combat. I am sure that the DVT was a direct consequence of her wounds and it is a tragedy that we lost her.
God rest her soul.
Not having a medical degree myself I'm in no position to say one way or the other.It certainly seems possible that it was directly connected to her wounds.Either way you're right to say that her death is tragic.
But she didn’t die of her wounds. She died of a blood clot to the heart more than 10 years after she received her PH.
God bless her and all her comrades in arms.
I think your assessment that it was likely long flight deep vein thrombosis is probably correct.
We have a culture that allegedly honors those few who risk everything - up until it's time to actually honor them. The downfall of this country is hypocrisy - and cowardice.
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