{"id":12781,"date":"2017-09-22T14:10:07","date_gmt":"2017-09-22T14:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/09\/22\/a-gold-star-mother-remembers-her-fallen-marine\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T01:29:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T01:29:16","slug":"a-gold-star-mother-remembers-her-fallen-marine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/military-honor\/2017\/09\/22\/a-gold-star-mother-remembers-her-fallen-marine\/","title":{"rendered":"A Gold Star Mother remembers her fallen Marine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Editor\u2019s note: Sept. 24 marks Gold Star Mother\u2019s and Family\u2019s Day, a holiday with roots that pre-date World War II and serves to honor those whose sons, daughters, parents and siblings have made the ultimate sacrifice.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marine Lance Cpl. Christopher Phoenix-Jacob Levy made such a sacrifice<\/a> Dec. 10, 2011, three days after suffering fatal wounds during combat operations in Afghanistan\u2019s Helmand province. That story, told here by Levy\u2019s Gold Star Mother, Amanda Jacobs, is one of thousands honored by family members and others not just on Sept. 24, but throughout the year:<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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He was 11 when 9\/11 hit … and I picked him up at school. They were shutting down schools, they were shutting down everything. At this point, only one of the towers had fallen. And by the time I\u2019d picked him up, the second tower had fell. He was curious about what\u2019s going on and I said, \u201cWell, they\u2019re thinking it\u2019s terrorists. They don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And he said, \u201cI want to get the person who did that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I said, \u201cWell, they\u2019ll get him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said, \u201cNo, I\u2019m going to get him. I want to be a Marine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019d never mentioned anything about the military. And I was like, \u201cWell, by the time you get old enough, all the threats will be over.\u201d Of course, in my lifetime, I\u2019d never seen any extended wars. You\u2019d have some conflict, and no big deal. So I had no reason to believe it wouldn\u2019t be over by the time he\u2019d graduated high school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, in 2009, when he graduated, it still wasn\u2019t over. He did the Delayed Entry Program with the Marine Corps and left Father\u2019s Day of 2009 for boot camp, which was probably the longest 13 weeks of my life. You know, you\u2019re used to talking to him every day, seeing him every day, fussing at him every day, then all of a sudden, 13 weeks and I\u2019ve got to wait for someone to tell me I can talk to my kid? I was not a happy mom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He came home, he graduated, and I just remember at his graduation, he pulled me to the side and he said he had a gift for me. \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For 18 years, I got nothing but handmade stuff from school, or pictures, or something \u2014 kids don\u2019t really think, \u201cOh, I need to invest in something for Mom and Dad for their birthday,\u201d which is fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He had bought me a ring. A smaller version of his Marine Corps ring. \u2026 He said, \u201cMom, I\u2019m a Marine and I only made it this far because of you.\u201d \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He told me he got what he wanted for his MOS. And I said, \u201cReally? Tell me what you\u2019re going to be doing, what you\u2019re going to be working on.\u201d And he said, \u201cInfantry!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, not what I wanted to hear, but he was happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lance Cpl. Christopher Phoenix-Jacob Levy in Afghanistan, the day he would suffer a fatal gunshot wound. (Courtesy of Amanda Jacobs)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Levy would be stationed at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, only a three- or four-hour drive from his family home.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He called and said, \u201cWe\u2019re going to Afghanistan. To combat.\u201d I\u2019m like, not good, not good. Outside looking in, all of us ordinary people were seeing that it\u2019s really getting crazy over there, with bin Laden, and they\u2019re trying to find him, they can\u2019t find him. He said, \u201cDon\u2019t worry, I\u2019ll keep you posted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had a lot of conversations, nothing to really freak out about. So we\u2019re watching the news, and of course he tells me, \u201cDon\u2019t watch the news. I\u2019ll let you know if I\u2019m OK.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I remember like it was yesterday, watching the news saying bin Laden\u2019s dead. \u2026 About 30 minutes later, I get a phone call: \u201cMomma, I\u2019m coming home.\u201d And I say, \u201cYou\u2019re coming home! Do you know bin Laden\u2019s dead?\u201d And he\u2019s like, \u201cI\u2019m here. I know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He actually came home Mother\u2019s Day 2011. It was a great Mother\u2019s Day. Between that time and his 21st birthday, I couldn\u2019t ask for anything else. \u2026 My little boy was no longer a little boy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Levy, center, poses with brothers Elijah Sheek, left, and Payne Sheek in what would be their last photo together. (courtesy of Amanda Jacobs)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Marine soon decided his work wasn\u2019t done in Afghanistan. He wanted to go back before his unit was scheduled to return.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I said, \u201cIsn\u2019t your group scheduled to go back in February?\u201d And he said, \u201cYes, but I need to get back over there. Some of my buddies are over there and I want to finish what I started.\u201d And I said, \u201cWell, just wait.\u201d And he said, \u201cWell, it\u2019s a little late \u2014 I\u2019ve already volunteered to go back with another group.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was like, \u201cReally?\u201d He said, \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was going back as what they call [a] \u201ccombat replacement.\u201d And I said, \u201cYou understand what that means? You are replacing men who were in combat, who didn\u2019t make it or will never go back.\u201d And he said, \u201cI know, but I\u2019ll be fine. I made it through the first one. \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He left on October the 7th. I got emails, phone calls, off-and-on stuff. The last phone call was November the 14th. I was hoping he was calling to say, \u201cHey, I\u2019m gonna be home for Thanksgiving,\u201d because he had not been home for Thanksgiving or Christmas the past couple of years.\u201d And he was like, \u201cNo, but I need to tell you, we\u2019re going into a hot spot, and I won\u2019t be able to talk. It\u2019s for a couple of weeks, no phone calls, no emails, but everything will be fine.\u201d …<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jacobs worked at a courthouse. It was early December, less than a month since she had heard from her son.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was at work. And at 12:32, I got \u2014 you get a coded message on your phone. And then after that came a message, you\u2019ll get a phone call. There\u2019s something serious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I got the call, and they asked where I was at \u2026 they said, \u201cWe need you to come home.\u201d And at this point, I was like, \u201cNo, you need to tell me what\u2019s going on.\u201d And they said, it\u2019s in regards to Lance Cpl. Levy, let us know how long it\u2019s going to be until [you get home] and we\u2019ll meet you there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forty-five minutes seemed to turn into three hours, driving home. And I came down my road, and I could see the car. They followed me in, and we got into the house. And not the recruiter or individuals I was used to seeing. This person was a little more decorated than usual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They had regretted to inform me that my son had sustained a gunshot wound to the head and was in surgery. And so, at that point, I was like, \u201cHe\u2019s alive?\u201d And they tell me, \u201cYes ma\u2019am, he\u2019s alive, they\u2019re working as hard as they can.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, what do I need to do? They told me to pack my clothes, I was going to Germany for 30 days. … They gave me a number to call every hour on the hour if I wanted to, which I did, finally getting a confirmation that he was out of surgery, and was stable. I was getting ready to get onto the plane to head to Landstuhl. \u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\t