FOLEY, Ala. - Jan York has many memories of her son, Lt. Col. Mark Stratton. These memories lead to stories. These stories bring out the most extreme emotions, ranging from pure joy and happiness to possibly the worst form of sadness.

Some of the memories make Jan smile and laugh. Others cause her to lower her head and look down. A few bring her on the verge of tears. One does bring tears.

Happy tales

When you walk into Jan’s house, located in Foley on West Satsuma Street, she brings you to a room in the back with a bunch of photos, letters and memorabilia of Mark.

These begin the memories, which begin the stories. These first stories make her smile.

Jan shows a wooden box. It has a number of keepsakes from Mark’s life, ranging from a framed collage of photos of Mark to graduation photos and ROTC memorabilia.

“It’s sad that I just have it all in a box,” she says.

She then shows a letter from Foley Mayor John Koniar, a photo of Mark standing on top of a mountain in Afghanistan and a photo of his wife and kids.

“My sweet grandchildren. His beautiful wife, Jennifer, and Delaney and Jake and A.J.,” Jan says while smiling and holding the photo. She visits them in Washington, D.C., as much as possible.

Next, she opens a box filled with coins she received. One is a coin from Taiwan, and Jan remembers how Mark was a liaison for Taiwan during his military service.

“This little Taiwan man came up to me in Arlington and said, ‘I want to see Mark’s mother,’ and so they went and got me and he bowed and said, ‘I was saving this coin to give to you after your son arrived home, but I want to give it to you.’ So, it means a lot,” Jan says.

Outside, there stands a street sign, courtesy of the Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, dedicated to Mark. It has “Stratton Ave” written in white over the green backdrop, and it is planted into Jan’s backyard, surrounded in a circle by red, white and blue flowers. Jan smiles as she shows it off. She calls it her “love garden.”

The patriotic child and his brothers

Stories from Mark’s childhood are brought up — how patriotic he was; how much he got along with his brothers, Frankie and Michael, who he grew up with in Foley; and how everyone, especially his mother, loved him.

“Oh my god. I can hardly describe him,” Jan says, smiling from ear to ear. “He was just a great kid. He and his brothers were just so tight.”

Jan tells the story about how one time Mark was dressed up for an ROTC formal dinner, and Michael made playful jabs at him.

“Mark had a real dry sense of humor and Michael had a real sloppy sense of humor,” Jan says, without being able to hold back a smile and a few chuckles and laughs during the story. “I remember Mark was walking down the hall with his dress blues on and spit-shined shoes and everything, and Michael was at the other end of the hall and he goes, ‘I just love a man in a uniform,’ and Mark was play choking him and they were on the floor wrestling.

“They used to always make me laugh,” she concludes, afterwards looking down to the ground and seems to have to catch her emotions for the first time.

Jan tells the story of when Mark was a child and he heard the “National Anthem” or “Star Spangled Banner,” he would in attention and salute, as patriotic as any American citizen could be.

“I think he always wanted to be in the service because his dad was a captain in the army in Vietnam,” Jan says.

Jan remembers a specific story regarding her son’s patriotic tendencies. One instance happened when Jan was with Mark driving down Alabama 59. They drove past the Burger King and Mark noticed the American flag flying above was in bad shape. Jan said he quickly turned the car into the parking lot at the last second, entered the restaurant and told the manager to get a flag in better condition and take better care of it.

“He said, ‘It is a shame to see an American flag be treated the way you treated it. He told the manager, ‘Next time I come back here, there better be another flag up there and you better do it properly,’“ Jan says, laughing as she remembers how mindful the restaurant manager was at Mark’s stern request. Jan says he kept nodding his head while saying, ‘Yes sir.’

“They’ve kept a pretty new flag up there ever since.”

Jan also tells some tales from Mark’s and his wife’s, Jennifer Stratton, wedding. The wedding was gorgeous, and Jan says she and Mark danced. Recounting this event almost brings Jan to tears. However, she finds a way to fight them off.

Soldier’s service

Mark was going to turn 40 years old in July 2009. He graduated Foley High School in 1987, and he attended Texas A&M and graduated in 1991. He entered the United States Air Force as a communications officer and worked in the Pentagon before going to Afghanistan. The Pentagon honored Mark by naming a room after him, and he is only one of two people to receive that honor, Jan says. He was awarded the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, the Air Force Combat Action Medal and the Afghanistan Campaign Medal.

Jan remembers how Mark loved the work he was doing in Afghanistan because he thought he was making a big impact. He was commander of the Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction team in Afghanistan, building roads for the Afghanistan communities and citizens. Jan says Mark would always tell her he would be safe.

“‘It is the safest place I could be,’ he would tell me,” Jan says, noting she still worried because it is a mother’s instinct to worry about her son.

This leads to the funeral service in Stafford, Va. A caravan traveled from Stafford to the cemetery in Arlington. Buddy York, Jan's husband and Mark's stepfather, remembers how there was a rolling roadblock on Interstate 65 for the caravan.

“There were people all around standing in attention and saluting,” Buddy says.

“The turnout was huge,” Jan says.

Her fingers fiddle with Mark’s Foley High School 1987 class ring. This leads to the story about how he gave the ring to his college girlfriend while in Colorado. Jan said she didn’t think she would ever see the ring again, but the old girlfriend went to the funeral service in Stafford and gave the ring back to Jan.

“I didn’t see the ring from 1987 to 2009,” Jan says, her voice cracking a bit.

The saddest story

Stratton left for Afghanistan October 2008; and he was supposed to return in July 2009, exactly 80 days after Mother’s Day, the last time he called her.

“He was counting down the days to come home,” Jan says.

Jan then tells the story that brings her to tears.

“The day before was Memorial Day. I said my prayers that Mark would be safe,” Jan says. “The next morning we had to go to work. It was Tuesday. Buddy was in the shower. The phone rang, and I answered it and it was my daughter-in-law, Jennifer. Her calling that early, it rang bells that something was wrong. I could tell from her voice, but I said, ‘Oh my god, what happened?’ I’m thinking it was the children. It still didn’t dawn on me that it was Mark, and she said, ‘the worst has happened.’ I said, ‘Mark? Oh my god, it was Mark?’ It wasn’t long before the Air Force came and knocked on the door.”

Mark was killed on May 26, 2009 by a suicide bomber while he and others were driving near Bagram Airfield.

In a letter written by Jan on Monday, a mere week before Memorial Day and three days before the two-year anniversary of Mark’s death, she states, “The black hole in my heart will never heal. I desperately try not to think about it and focus on all of the wonderful and great memories … Mark set standards of excellence along with discipline, devotion and dedication. He set his goals high and stayed on the path … He is a true Alabama hero and an American hero. Mark made a difference.”

The letter ends with a simple message, one from a mother who has lost her soldier son, and now has only memories.

“Please remember our loved ones, not only for the sacrifices they make, but also for the lives they live. I personally want to thank all of our men and women in the military for the freedom we all enjoy today.”