This Memorial Day is especially difficult for Bob Huff.
The retired Tucson police detective thinks of his daughter, Sam Huff, every day. But around the anniversary of her death, he usually keeps his mind occupied while he is away from home — either camping in the mountains or spending time in California.
The pandemic changed his usual plans and is keeping him close to home. He has less to keep his mind distracted.
So he thinks.
“It hit me pretty hard. This anniversary was really difficult,” said Bob, surrounded at his northwest-side home by images of Sam, including paintings of her that were gifts.
It has been 15 years since the Mountain View High School student and drum major died from wounds caused by a roadside bomb outside of Baghdad, Iraq.
Army Pfc. Huff was 18 when she died April 17, 2005. She was driving a Humvee back to base after she and others in her unit had guarded an Iraqi police station, recalled her 65-year-old father.
The explosion resulted in the young soldier losing one leg and the other was almost detached. She was bleeding out when she told her sergeant, who was cradling her in his arms: “Tell my mom I love her, and tell my dad good luck with his album.”
Sam’s mother, Maggie Williams, who served in the Marines and was a communications supervisor with the Oro Valley Police Department, died from lung cancer in 2009. Her ashes are buried at Sam’s grave at Arlington National Cemetery.
Ingrained in Bob’s mind are Sam’s last words to him about the album. Bob was a musician long before his daughter was born and before his cop days. He played guitar and was a backup singer with Arizona, which was signed on with RCA Records. Arizona opened for Fleetwood Mac at the University of Arizona football stadium in 1977. There were an estimated 67,000 people in attendance.
Before Sam left for boot camp, he was writing a 15-song CD, an all smooth jazz instrumental. After her death, he took a break from his music.
However, Sam’s last words gave him inspiration and he, along with help from friends Herb Allen, a musician, and David Mackay, a producer, finished the CD, “Sun And Moon”, in 2007. The first letters to the words in the title spell “Sam,” Bob pointed out.
Sam is on the CD playing the flute in “Sun And Moon”. Sam played the flute since fifth grade, and Bob recorded her playing a melody for the song before she joined the Army. He then edited it into the CD.
“‘Sun And Moon’ is a tribute to all military servicemen and women,” said Bob. Since 2007, he has mailed more than 5,000 CDs to Gold Star families, families who have lost a loved one during conflict.
Bob did this through fundraisers and donations from friends and others who heard about his cause.
“On this Memorial Day, we still are fighting in the Iraq War, and there are still people being injured and killed. Unfortunately, people forget that is the case,” he said.
“To me, every day is Memorial Day. There is not a day that goes by without me thinking about (Sam),” said Bob. “I think most Gold Star families also feel that way.”
