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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNoah Pozner's mom (Sandy Hook) was interviewed after Noah was murdered - here ya go....
Last edited Sat Jan 5, 2013, 03:52 AM - Edit history (1)


I know this is more than the 4 paragraph limit.
Hope you will understand...
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Wrestling With Details of Noah Pozner's Killing
By Naomi Zeveloff
Nine days after her son, Noah, was killed in the Newtown schools shootings, I interviewed Veronique Pozner and other members of the family about their grieving process. The family had just finished observing the official Jewish mourning period.
I spent over an hour with Veronique; she talked me through her experience on December 14 and the days that followed. Her story was filled with moving and harrowing details: her dream of wandering an abandoned building calling out for Noah, her meeting with President Obama at a vigil at the local high school and her decision to get a tattoo of angel wings and Noahs name the day after his death. The details that stuck with me the most and the details which I felt most conflicted about putting in print were Veroniques descriptions of the damage to her sons body. He was shot 11 times; she told me that his jaw and his left hand were mostly gone.
There were certain things Veronique wanted for Noahs funeral. She felt that his body had suffered too many indignities already; she was adamant that he not be autopsied. She wanted him to be buried with a Jewish prayer shawl and with a clear stone with a white angel inside an angel stone in each of his hands. Veronique was only able to put the stone in his right hand because the left was not altogether there, she told me, crying for the first time in our interview. She asked the funeral director to put the other one in the left hand spot. I made him promise and he did.
Veronique told me that Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy visited her in the funeral home, and she brought him to see Noahs open casket. I asked her why it was important for her and for the governor to see Noahs body. I needed it to have a face for him, she said. If there is ever a piece of legislation that comes across his desk, I needed it to be real for him.
Veronique continued on in this vein for a few minutes. But I still felt that I didnt understand why she, asa mother, chose to see Noahs body, so I asked her again: Why, for her? I owed it to him as his mother, the good, the bad, the ugly, she said. It is not up to me to say I am only going to look at you and deal with you when you are alive, that I am going to block out the reality of what you look like when you are dead. And as a little boy, you have to go in the ground. If I am going to shut my eyes to that I am not his mother. I had to bear it. I had to do it. Several family members also chose to view Noahs body.
Then, unprompted by me, Veronique described what she saw: We all saw how beautiful he was. He had thick, shiny hair, beautiful long eyelashes that rested on his cheeks. He looked like he was sleeping. But the reality of it was under the cloth he had covering his mouth there was no mouth left. His jaw was blown away. I just want people to know the ugliness of it so we dont talk about it abstractly, like these little angels just went to heaven. No. They were butchered. They were brutalized. And that is what haunts me at night.
Read more: http://blogs.forward.com/forward-thinking/168707/wrestling-with-details-of-noah-pozners-killing/#ixzz2H4vMbnnk

edit to add - Noah's mom wants this story to get out.... please share.

UnrepentantLiberal
(11,700 posts)turning this thread into a gun debate.
jillan
(39,451 posts)Let people look at that face and think of him with holes throughout his body...
with his left hand blown to pieces.
Second amendment rights took away this little boy's right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
sarisataka
(21,631 posts)It should be told to everyone, especially the age demographic where violence is more common. People get the wrong ideas about violence, life and death. Anger may last a moment, death is forever. Bringing that point home is what may help change the cultural norms that glorify violence and put it forth as a solution to problems.
I grieve with this poor mother and pray that she may find peace. I am in awe of her strength and love of her child. That too is something many can learn from.
It is not the killers that should be household names, but the victims.
Noah Pozner
UnrepentantLiberal
(11,700 posts)jillan
(39,451 posts)I just want people to know the ugliness of it so we dont talk about it abstractly, like these little angels just went to heaven. No. They were butchered. They were brutalized
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)Which need to be outlawed and TAKEN THE FUCK AWAY.
ALL OF THEM.
FightForMichigan
(232 posts)May his memory be for a blessing.
jillan
(39,451 posts)AngryOldDem
(14,180 posts)My thoughts will always be with their families.
There really are no other words.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)I'm really moved by this picture of him. What a loss to the world.
fortyfeetunder
(8,894 posts)This is the first time I had heard of anyone looking at their child's remains and and I applaud her for putting truth to this situation.
This excerpt brought it home for me this late evening:
"I just want people to know the ugliness of it so we dont talk about it abstractly, like these little angels just went to heaven. No. They were butchered. They were brutalized. And that is what haunts me at night.
This reminds me of Emmitt Till's mother showing the mangled remains of her son at a viewing many years ago. This was a courageous act by Noah's mother.
Rest in peace, little Noah. Peace and healing to his family.
Behind the Aegis
(55,192 posts)Bonobo
(29,257 posts)It must have been brutal. How fucking brave of her. It kills me to think about.
For Catholics and for the Japanese where I live, they are used to open caskets... so maybe it would be less intimidating.
triplepoint
(431 posts)nothing will...
And then there's the condition of the bodies of the other Sandy Hook Elementary School Massacre victims...
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AngryOldDem
(14,180 posts)There is one picture I have seen of one child where he is looking wistfully up at the sky.
Breaks my heart.
I don't know about the existence of angels, but their pictures make me want to believe.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)
HangOnKids
(4,291 posts)No words.
ReRe
(11,433 posts)... and continue to hold Mamma Veronique close and give her strength as she goes on in life. Amen.
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)They all were. What a tragic waste of young life. I am in tears for these young ones.
Lex
(34,108 posts)Ugh.
jillan
(39,451 posts)hearts & never let them go.
After the shooting in Tucson - I saved a pic of Darwin Stoddard.
He died to protect his wife during that massacre.
We cannot let these people be forgotten.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)jillan
(39,451 posts)Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)And that little guy deserves to have his voice heard.