Red tape, flood keep military mom in limbo

By Catherine Kavanaugh
Daily Tribune Staff Writer

Petty officer seeks local assignment following family tragedy

CLAWSON — Mother’s Day will be bittersweet for Lindsay Gough, a 26-year-old petty officer first class.

She learned Thursday she didn’t have to leave her husband and three children at 6 a.m. today to return to Naval Information Operations Command in Hawaii. The family can be together another 10 days.

Now the E-6 officer is hoping the sad reason that brought her home temporarily will lead to a long-term humanitarian reassignment to Michigan.

Gough and her husband, Daniel, lost their 13-month-old son, Wyatt, on April 11. They still don’t know what happened after the brown-eyed toddler with a big smile went to bed.

“He was asleep and he didn’t wake up,” Gough said. “No one knows why.”

Possible causes were ruled out. Gough said the family was given a rare diagnosis of exclusion called Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood. SUDC occurs in about 1.2 deaths per 100,000 children mostly between the ages of 1 and 3.

Daniel Gough called his wife at the naval base early that Sunday to tell her the heart-breaking news. The earliest she could fly home was 1 1/2 days later.

The couple and their extended family planned a loving memorial for Wyatt Daniel Ekolu Gough. Keepsake prayer cards for the little boy say, “Our sweet Angel Wyatt is what we call you now” and they wear bracelets stamped with “Our Wyatt Boy” and a halo.

“Our sweet baby got his Angel wings and his parents have to face his unexplainable death,” said a great-aunt, Doreen Martin of Royal Oak. “Our family is in turmoil.”

Martin and other relatives in Michigan and Hawaii are appealing to members of Congress to intervene and speed up Gough’s transfer request before she has to return to Hawaii again on May 20.

“The squeaky wheel gets the grease,” Martin said.

Lindsay’s mother, Lauren Rodrigues, is pleading with elected and naval officials not to separate her grieving daughter from her husband and children ages 2, 3 and 5 during a process that could take two or three months.

“They claim the orders cannot be cut any faster,” Rodrigues said in one of her letters. “To separate them now after this recent loss would be cruel. They would not be apart due to deployment but rather red tape.”

Gough’s application is being processed at the Millington Naval Base, Tenn., which was under water last week because of flooding from the Cumberland River. She and many relatives are disappointed it wasn’t handled sooner.

“It’s one thing after another. Can’t my family catch a break?” Gough asked. “You’d think all of this would have gone smoother, that someone would do everything in their power to help.”

Gough said naval officials in Hawaii and Michigan have been supportive. She is eligible for a position at a recruiting office in Detroit or Troy. A 12-month humanitarian reassignment would take her almost to the end of her enlistment in August 2011. She isn’t sure what to expect.

“I have seen similar requests get approved and I’ve seen people get turned,” the eight-year servicewoman said. “We are crossing our fingers. These past weeks with my husband have been nice. We are trying to put our life back together and be strong for our kids.”

While she waits, Gough said she is grateful to be in Clawson another 10 days. She will spend Mother’s Day cheering on her son, Dylan, 5, and his soccer team at their game and treasuring time with Brennan, 2, and Isaiah, 3.

Dylan was a big help to his stay-at-home dad with Wyatt.

“He has his moments,” Gough said of her oldest child. “He is busy with school and soccer, but during the down time, it’s real to him. He knows his brother isn’t here.”

Now she wants to be here for them. Gough hadn’t seen Wyatt since January. The young woman who joined the Navy in 2002 out of a sense of duty following 9/11 is questioning her plan to make a career in the military.

“Everything that has happened has me stepping back and asking if this is something I want to do,” Gough said. “I’m thinking about my family, not work benefits and serving my country. The sacrifices I have made are too great to make any more.”

Contact Catherine Kavanaugh at cathy.kavanaugh@dailytribune.com or (586) 783-0216.