Posted on 07/30/2002 4:05:43 AM PDT by ResistorSister
ALLIANCE -- Leroy Zeigler spoke softly and calmly about his daughter, Andrea Zeigler Floyd, who was shot and killed near an Army base about a week ago.
He remembered her raising goats for 4-H.
He remembered her as a standout athlete at Marlington High School.
And he remembered her kind gestures. Like when she became a surrogate mother.
“If she’d do that for those people she didn’t even know,” Zeigler said at his home in Columbiana County’s Knox Township, “you could imagine what she’d do for the people she knew.”
Zeigler Floyd, 29, formerly of Alliance, was among four women who were murdered within the last six weeks in the Fort Bragg, N.C. area. In Zeigler Floyd’s case, Army Sgt. 1st Class Brandon Floyd, killed her, then himself, on July 19, according to authorities.
But Zeigler becomes angry when discussing whether his late daughter’s husband should be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
“There’s no way he should ever be buried in Arlington Cemetery,” the grieving father said. “There are too many (other soldiers) who would be dishonored by putting him in Arlington Cemetery.”
Floyd’s funeral at the cemetery has been postponed until the Army’s Criminal Intelligence Division and the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Department complete an investigation into the deaths, said Jack Harrison, spokesman for the Army for the district of Washington at Fort McNair.
Harrison said he did not know how long the investigation would take.
Zeigler is a Vietnam veteran.
“There’s no place in Arlington Cemetery for anybody like that.”
Generally, the next of kin or a representative from the military can apply to have a soldier buried in the national cemetery, the Associated Press reported. Most active-duty soldier’s applications are accepted, Arlington Cemetery spokeswoman Barbara Owens said.
There are no policies prohibiting soldiers involved in murder-suicides from being buried in the cemetery, Owens told the Associated Press. Soldiers involved in murder-suicides have been buried in Arlington before, she said.
Zeigler said he wants the military to do more to help other soldiers who may be in similar situations.
“They make these guys the way they are,” he said of special operations soldiers. “And then they don’t want to take responsibility when something happens.”
“The thing they know best is what they revert to,” Zeigler said of the recent cases. “And that’s violence.”
“You have to remember you have to be a father and a husband, too,” he said, pounding his finger on the dining room table. “You can’t just be a hero all the time.”
Fort Bragg officials said soldiers face stress when they are deployed in Afghanistan and other countries. Stress and anger management sessions have increased at the post since the terror attacks on Sept. 11, said Henry Berry, manager of family advocacy programs at the post.
Floyd served in Afghanistan as part of the Delta Force, the secretive anti-terrorism unit based at Fort Bragg, The Fayetteville Observer reported. He returned in January.
The husbands are suspected in all four cases, which includes another murder-suicide, investigators said.
“Not one (unmarried) guy had a problem,” Zeigler said. “They’re all married men. Something has to be connected there — it can’t just be the stress of the war.
“I was in Vietnam for one year, and I got shot at every day.”
“There is something they’re not doing for these soldiers somewhere along the line,” he said. “They need to single out these guys that are married and pay more attention to them.”
Zeigler said he doesn’t want other women to end up like his daughter.
He said the couple’s three children, ages 4, 5 and 8, were staying with Andrea’s mother, Penny Flitcraft, when the incident occurred. Flitcraft also lives in Knox Township in Columbiana County.
Zeigler said Flitcraft was in North Carolina on Monday to get the children. She plans to adopt them, he said.
“She deserves a lot of credit,” Zeigler said.
Flitcraft could not be reached for comment.
Zeigler wishes he would have kept in closer contact with Andrea.
Zeigler and Flitcraft divorced when Andrea was about a year old.
He last saw her about 18 months ago when she visited the area. She stopped by and showed him a bicycle she used in triathlons.
He laughed, recalling its hefty price and light weight.
Andrea and her husband last visited the area about three weeks ago. She dropped off their children at her mother’s home.
Zeigler said he found it odd that the couple left a short time later.
They had been married for several years, he said
“I guess she was in the process of getting a separation from him,” Zeigler said. North Carolina law requires a one-year separation before a divorce.
After graduating from Marlington, Andrea completed a three-year stint in the Army.
“Whoever knew her, she brought joy to their lives,” her father said. “She was a self-made woman. She’s refused to quit on anything she’s ever done ... and I’m sure she tried everything she could to make that marriage work.”
Zeigler said he has no hard feelings toward his son-in-law’s parents. He met them at his daughter’s funeral service in Alliance Saturday.
“They’re wonderful people,” he said. “And I feel sorry for them. My heart just bleeds for them. They’re suffering. They loved my daughter. They really did.
“They acted like it was their fault,” Zeigler said. “(Their son) did that, and it was not their fault. You can’t be responsible for your kids 24 hours a day, especially when they’re adults.”
You can reach Repository writer Ed Balint at (330) 580-8315 or e-mail:
She carried the baby for another couple.
This is a quote from Andrea's father in the article.
Maybe and maybe not. Marriage is a tough row to hoe even when the husband isn't frequently absent. Some wives have a low tolerance for absences. Some grin and bear it. I think a lot of career navy wives actually resent it when hubby returns because they have been running the whole show without assistance. Her willingness to be a surrogate mother (the article doesn't say when) is outside of my experience. I'm sure it introduced a dynamic into the marriage but I can't explain the effects of that particular dynamic.
Do we have details as to just how long the soldiers had been back home before the murders were committed? Also, from what I recall of reading in the original articles, in every case the children were NOT in the house...they were with relatives. Did this occur to allow the couples some time alone, or wass it planned by the soldiers so the kids wouldn't be at the scene...??
My husband thought that the expensive bicycle Andrea used in triathlons could have introduced a negative dynamic into the marriage.
Arguements? Sure; but not murder.
Her husband, Brandon, came home in January (at least that is what I remember reading in another article.)
The husbands are suspected in all four cases, which includes another murder-suicide, investigators said.
“Not one (unmarried) guy had a problem,” Zeigler said. “They’re all married men. Something has to be connected there — it can’t just be the stress of the war.
Sounds like a marriage problem. If divorce and domestic abuse is common in the US, why should the military be any different? Compare this to the thousands who come home from war and lead normal, loving married life. Even many of them experience the tradegy of infidelity and divorce, and do not resort to killing their spouse. So, is this an anectodal problem, or are there statistics to show this is a greater problem for returning married GI's?
Your husband may have a point. Those lightweight bikes can get pretty expensive. Lots of couples, particularly young couples, argue about money. Throw in having somebody else's baby and you might have a humdinger of an argument.
Anyway arguments lead to bad communication which can lead to bitterness, separation, and even murder.
Although I know the reason for this law, it's not a good one. After the one-year separation, a divorce can take another year or even longer. This limbo time is a period of great danger for individuals with unstable spouses. Better to cut the cord as quickly as possible.
Since the father stated that she was "in the process of getting a separation", it sounds to me like this may have prompted the murder. Sort of a "if I can't have her, no one will" sort of thing.
Leni
OK. This is pure speculation, not to mention terribly insensitive, but...single guys don't have to worry about cheating wives. Married guys do--sometimes it’s all in their own head, but they still worry. I know from very personal experience that having a wife cheat (or worse, get pregnant) can drive guys to suicide and/or murder.
I suspect you're on to something here. This guy's been home SINCE JANUARY! Did he discover some evidence, or did she slip and call him by someone else's name?
No single guys killing girlfriends, are there?
But I will say this...not all women cheat on their military husbands...sometimes marriages just don't work.
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