ROUND ROCK, Texas -- Quite a few people know Tracy LaPorte as the head of a group called Military Moms of Texas. It helps military families and soldiers. Now many are rallying around LaPorte after the loss of her son.
LaPorte was proud that her son, 23-year-old Sgt. Adam Huckstep, an Operation Iraqi Freedom vet, was willing to give his life for his country. However, Huckstep didn't die on the battlefield overseas but instead, a senseless accident is the reason his family is grieving.
“I'd give anything to have him back. Anything,” said LaPorte.
On Feb. 1 Huckstep, who his friends called "Two-Step," was killed while leaving Ft. Stewart in Georgia. A driver pulled in front of his motorcycle.
“He was leaving in two days. He was deploying again to Afghanistan,” LaPorte said. “You can't even comprehend it. He's been in Iraq. It can't be true.”
LaPorte has spent years helping other military families during their time of grief. She always feared her son would die while fighting overseas.
“I've cried and screamed, and thrown up, and then you get numb," LaPorte said. "What the hell was this woman doing? Did she stay? Did she look at my son's body there? Does she know I'm a mother? Does she know how bad this feels? No, she'll never know.”
LaPorte is suffering from stage four cancer. She barely remembers Adam coming home for Christmas. It was the last time their family would be together.
“He laid with me and stayed at the hospital,” she said.
She wishes she could turn back time and spend so much more of it with her eldest son.
“The time I could have taken to go see him, the time I could have taken to talk to him, the time I could have taken to do so many things,” she said. “I just want my baby back. That's what I want. I want my son.”
Sgt. Huckstep served with the 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team of the Third Infantry Division. He will be buried Friday at DFW National Cemetery.
His family and friends are holding a special memorial service in Round Rock at 4 p.m. on Saturday Feb. 18 at St. Philip's United Methodist Church.
