âUsually around this time every year Iâll get a slew of cards,â Kluttz said.
This time of year, of course, would be Memorial Day, a solemn holiday anointed by Congress to remember those Americans killed in war.
Some of the cards come from people she knows or has at least met. Others, though, are sent by strangers expressing condolences for the 2005 loss of her son, Monta Ruth, a sergeant in the U.S. Army who was killed while serving in Iraq.
And while those cards (and the odd phone call) can be reminders of the worst day of her life, the outreach serves another more uplifting purpose.
Bruce Chapman, Journal file
Major General Virgil L. Packett II (from right) presents an
American flag to Barbara Kluttz, mother of slain soldier Sgt. Monta
Ruth, while Sgt. Ruthâs father Frederick Kluttz (2nd from right),
Sgt. Ruthâs wife (far left) and daughter Zoe look on during the
funeral service for Sgt. Monta Ruth at Evergreen Cemetery in
Winston-Salem, Saturday, Sept. 10, 2005.
Jennifer Rotenizer, Journal file
Spc. David Nelson Timmons, Jr. was killed in action on May 5,
2006, in Kabul, Afghanistan, along with nine of his comrades in a
helicopter crash. Timmons was buried at Salisbury National
Cemetery, in Salisbury.
Bruce Chapman, Journal file