April 14, 2003

By Hilda M. Perez
BAGHDAD — Sgt. 1st Class Todd Johnson can’t stop reminiscing about his mom’s chocolate pound cake, even as he packs his green Army-issue duffel bag for the saddest trip home of his life.

“She used to make it just for me and anytime I have been deployed she always made sure it would get to me,” said Johnson, 39, of Gainesville, Ga.

Johnson had just been notified that his mother Carolyn Witherspoon, 59, had died suddenly Wednesday of natural causes.

This is not the way he wanted to return home.

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Bill Mitchell is the former CEO and publisher of the National Catholic Reporter. He was editor of Poynter Online from 1999 to 2009. Before joining…
Bill Mitchell

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