In Phil’s Words

Over the last several days I have become more aware of the blatant disrespect we have received as a grieving family in a wrongful death case from those whose job it is to get Morgan the justice she deserves. I can’t even count how many times we have heard the words,”there is nothing more we can do” or “we have to assume she was willingly in the vehicle”, without doing a proper investigation. Both are disgustingly unacceptable, while the criminals responsible for Morgan’s death are out there living their lives as if this nightmare we every day never happened. Even more disturbing is that those same people have families of their own that they go home to every night. They have wives and daughters who look at them like heroes for the work that they do. If only they knew the half-assed mediocre work they actually do, and the families in need that they turn their backs on. If only their families knew that their hero is perfectly fine with the bare minimum if something were to happen to them, considering that is exactly what they do for the families that rely on them on a daily basis in their time of greatest need.
Another concern I have is the overall egocentric and childish behavior displayed by all of these people. For example, at least two detectives in charge of Morgan’s case had their heads so far up their own asses, that when their career moved them elsewhere, they closed Morgan’s case without notifying us, and we would never have known had we not been demanding updates. Who, in their right mind, does that to a grieving family seeking justice for a violent , evil situation that never should have happened in the first place? How can they go home and face their family while letting another suffer? In another example of how backwards all of this is, I was recently berated by a First Sergeant , and made out to be a failure of a Squad Leader because two of my guys had not informed me of issues going on in their personal lives that our Command wanted to be aware of; I’m a failure for not knowing something, which is a direct result of “improper communication” with the Marines serving under me, according to her, yet everyone that has failed to conduct a proper investigation into Morgan’s homicide has been promoted. I am disturbed to the very core of my being to see, firsthand, the greed, corruption and inhumanity of these people.
Morgan was very concerned that the military way of life would change me, and that I wouldn’t be the same person she fell in love with. Although I am aware I have changed, Morgan had nothing to worry about because she always kept me grounded. My motivation in everything I did was to be the best possible version of myself, for her. As my father described Morgan, “ she wasn’t just a fire in his life, she was a lightning bolt”. What has ultimately changed me, is the lack of compassion and humanity from those whose job it is to prevent this kind of evil from happening, and failure to seek out absolute justice when it does. We have been robbed of a lifetime of memories, happiness and life events with Morgan and all that Onslow County, NC wants is for us to stop asking questions, to the extent someone actually stated,” this was over three years ago, what does it matter?. Let that sink in. Someone actually saying that to a grieving family who has lost someone in the most horrifying way. It is all just as vile and criminal as Morgan being taken from us.
This is the weight that Steve, Renee and I carry while doing our best just to get through the day. If all of these people stayed true to their oaths and did their job from the beginning, we could be putting all of this time and effort into proper, healthy grieving and celebrating Morgan’s life in a way she would want us to; happily together, without this additional weight crushing us and distracting us from living in the moment. It is demoralizing an soul crushing to see how desensitized people have become to tragedies such as this. To watch people mentally write this off as “just one of those bad things that happens”, when it doesn’t directly affect them. The reality is, this could have been anyone. This could have been you or your loved one, and it happens more often than they want to admit because it’s easier for them to lie and sweep everything under the rug than it is for them to do their job.
My hope is that, through our fight, we can change that, and more importantly, save the lives of countless young women in and out of the military, and, at the very least, save another family from this very fight. Until then, I know we have a very long and exhausting road ahead of us, and we’ll get there together.