Our son didn't have to die.
By Brian Terry's parents

It has been more than 18 months since our son, Brian Terry, was shot andkilled by a Mexican drug cartel armed by a failed U.S. Department of Justice "gun-walking" operation known as "Fast and Furious."

The pain that Brian's death has caused our family is indescribable. No matter what words we use in this letter to you, we will never be able to justly convey how much suffering we have endured. We still grieve every day, and we are resigned to the fact that the agony of his death will stick with us for the rest of our lives. Not because he didn't achieve his dreams . . . not because he didn't live his life to the fullest . . . and not because he didn't leave anything behind that we couldn't celebrate or remember.

Our family will be forever grief-stricken because Brian didn't have to die.

We wish we could take solace knowing that Brian died doing what he loved to do. After all, it was his childhood dream to make a career in law enforcement and become a federal agent.

As a youngster, Brian was inspired by his Uncle Bob, a Michigan police offer who would give Brian tours of the police station and share stories of what it was like to be a police officer. From then on, Brian believed he was destined for a career in law enforcement. He joined the Marine Corps after high school and served four years in Naples, Italy before becoming a police officer in Lincoln Park, Michigan – just like his uncle. But Brian's ultimate dream was to become a federal agent, and so he applied to the United States Border Patrol.

In 2007, he attended the Border Patrol Academy in El Paso, Texas, graduating as president of his class before being assigned to the Naco station near Bisbee, Arizona, only a few miles from the U.S.-Mexican border. 

Brian accomplished exactly what he wanted to. But all of what he had worked for – and all our family had come to adore and love – was taken   
away so abruptly . . . so needlessly.

On December 14, 2010, Brian was conducting operations as a member of the Border Patrol Tactical Unit in Nogales, Arizona. He and his team encountered five Mexican drug cartel bandits in the "Peck Well" area near Rio Rico, Arizona. Not knowing the bandits were carrying the latest military grade assault weapons provided by the Justice Department as part of Operation Fast and Furious, there was an exchange of gunfire and Brian was shot in the lower back. He died on December 15, 2010.

Before then, our family was expecting Brian to return home for Christmas. What we were not expecting was that he would return home in a flag-draped casket. All because of an ill-conceived government gun trafficking investigation gone horribly awry.


Please click here for The Brian Terry Foundation web site http://honorbrianterry.com/

Please click here to contribute to the Brian Terry Foundation