By Karen Parrish
American Forces Press ServiceWASHINGTON, Sept. 24, 2011 – Brooke Toner was 28 years old the day she heard the knock on her door.
Brooke Toner, wife of Navy Lt. j.g. Francis L. Toner IV, addresses audience members after being presented the Silver Star in honor of her husband at the at the U.S. Navy Memorial in Washington, D.C., Sept. 23, 2011. DOD photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeleyThat knock brought the news every military spouse dreads: for Brooke, it meant her husband of less than three years was never coming home.
“It was the worst day of my life,” she told the capacity crowd gathered at the Navy Memorial here yesterday for the award ceremony honoring her husband, Navy Lt. j.g. Francis L. Toner IV.
Toner died in Afghanistan while defending fellow service members from an enemy who had infiltrated the Afghan National Army. The Americans were unarmed and on a physical training run when the gunman started shooting. Toner accosted the man and bought time for another service member to seek help.
After Brooke accepted her husband’s posthumous Silver Star from Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, she told American Forces Press Service how she felt about the event, and how her life has changed since that knock on the door in 2009.
Surrounded by hundreds of friends, family, and ‘Frankie’ Toner’s fellow sailors, she said, “I’m just so proud of my husband. It’s as simple as that. I’m just proud that he’s a man who lived the way he did, who loved
That knock brought the news every military spouse dreads: for Brooke, it meant her husband of less than three years was never coming home.
“It was the worst day of my life,” she told the capacity crowd gathered at the Navy Memorial here yesterday for the award ceremony honoring her husband, Navy Lt. j.g. Francis L. Toner IV.
Toner died in Afghanistan while defending fellow service members from an enemy who had infiltrated the Afghan National Army. The Americans were unarmed and on a physical training run when the gunman started shooting. Toner accosted the man and bought time for another service member to seek help.
After Brooke accepted her husband’s posthumous Silver Star from Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, she told American Forces Press Service how she felt about the event, and how her life has changed since that knock on the door in 2009.
Surrounded by hundreds of friends, family, and ‘Frankie’ Toner’s fellow sailors, she said, “I’m just so proud of my husband. It’s as simple as that. I’m just proud that he’s a man who lived the way he did, who loved
That knock brought the news every military spouse dreads: for Brooke, it meant her husband of less than three years was never coming home.
“It was the worst day of my life,” she told the capacity crowd gathered at the Navy Memorial here yesterday for the award ceremony honoring her husband, Navy Lt. j.g. Francis L. Toner IV.
Toner died in Afghanistan while defending fellow service members from an enemy who had infiltrated the Afghan National Army. The Americans were unarmed and on a physical training run when the gunman started shooting. Toner accosted the man and bought time for another service member to seek help.
After Brooke accepted her husband’s posthumous Silver Star from Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, she told American Forces Press Service how she felt about the event, and how her life has changed since that knock on the door in 2009.
Surrounded by hundreds of friends, family, and ‘Frankie’ Toner’s fellow sailors, she said, “I’m just so proud of my husband. It’s as simple as that. I’m just proud that he’s a man who lived the way he did, who loved
That knock brought the news every military spouse dreads: for Brooke, it meant her husband of less than three years was never coming home.
“It was the worst day of my life,” she told the capacity crowd gathered at the Navy Memorial here yesterday for the award ceremony honoring her husband, Navy Lt. j.g. Francis L. Toner IV.
Toner died in Afghanistan while defending fellow service members from an enemy who had infiltrated the Afghan National Army. The Americans were unarmed and on a physical training run when the gunman started shooting. Toner accosted the man and bought time for another service member to seek help.
After Brooke accepted her husband’s posthumous Silver Star from Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, she told American Forces Press Service how she felt about the event, and how her life has changed since that knock on the door in 2009.
Surrounded by hundreds of friends, family, and ‘Frankie’ Toner’s fellow sailors, she said, “I’m just so proud of my husband. It’s as simple as that. I’m just proud that he’s a man who lived the way he did, who loved
That knock brought the news every military spouse dreads: for Brooke, it meant her husband of less than three years was never coming home.
“It was the worst day of my life,” she told the capacity crowd gathered at the Navy Memorial here yesterday for the award ceremony honoring her husband, Navy Lt. j.g. Francis L. Toner IV.
Toner died in Afghanistan while defending fellow service members from an enemy who had infiltrated the Afghan National Army. The Americans were unarmed and on a physical training run when the gunman started shooting. Toner accosted the man and bought time for another service member to seek help.
After Brooke accepted her husband’s posthumous Silver Star from Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, she told American Forces Press Service how she felt about the event, and how her life has changed since that knock on the door in 2009.
Surrounded by hundreds of friends, family, and ‘Frankie’ Toner’s fellow sailors, she said, “I’m just so proud of my husband. It’s as simple as that. I’m just proud that he’s a man who lived the way he did, who loved
That knock brought the news every military spouse dreads: for Brooke, it meant her husband of less than three years was never coming home.
“It was the worst day of my life,” she told the capacity crowd gathered at the Navy Memorial here yesterday for the award ceremony honoring her husband, Navy Lt. j.g. Francis L. Toner IV.
Toner died in Afghanistan while defending fellow service members from an enemy who had infiltrated the Afghan National Army. The Americans were unarmed and on a physical training run when the gunman started shooting. Toner accosted the man and bought time for another service member to seek help.
After Brooke accepted her husband’s posthumous Silver Star from Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, she told American Forces Press Service how she felt about the event, and how her life has changed since that knock on the door in 2009.
Surrounded by hundreds of friends, family, and ‘Frankie’ Toner’s fellow sailors, she said, “I’m just so proud of my husband. It’s as simple as that. I’m just proud that he’s a man who lived the way he did, who loved me the way that he did, just who he was as a person.”
Toner was a great friend, brother, support system to others and a Navy officer, she said.
“He was just so incredible,” she added.
Their first date was six years to the day before he was killed March 27, 2009, she said.
“I knew him for seven months before that; we started dating in 2003, and we were married in 2006,” she said. “We were married for two years, seven months, eight days.”..
Go read more about this incredible woman here.
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