The man at the door - messenger of death

The man at the door
He's the person no family wants to see. He brings only terrible news. But in his work, he honors the fallen.
By CHRIS VAUGHN
Star-Telegram staff writer



Mark Kelsey is a messenger of death.

There's really no other way to put it.

For many families in North and East Texas, it was Kelsey who rang the doorbell in his dress-green Army uniform. It was his soft voice that informed them that their lives had been upended by what happened on a dusty road in some unpronounceable city thousands of miles away.

"He said, 'I have some news about your son. Can I come in?'" remembered Lance Springer of Benbrook, whose son, Spc. Lance Springer II, was killed March 23 in Iraq.

Fifty-five times Kelsey has notified a mother or a father, a wife or a husband that a loved one is dead. Twenty other times he has followed the notifier to serve as the liaison between the Army and a grieving family.

The place and manner of death vary -- stateside, Afghanistan, Iraq; hostile fire, suicide, a traffic accident.

He will ring more doorbells. This is, without a doubt, the busiest section of the U.S. for Army casualty officers.

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