‘It Won’t Bring My Son Back,’ Local Mom Says About bin Laden's Death

When Lance Cpl. George J. Payton kicked open a door in Fallouja, Iraq, to lead his comrades in a house raid in 2004, he was immediately shot and hit with a grenade as four insurgents greeted him. The 20-year-old Marine died from his battle wounds eight hours later, just five weeks shy of turning 21.

This Culver City native son went to , then and but stopped just short of graduation, as his mother, Chandra Payton, was concerned about the influence of gangs in the neighborhood on her son. She then sent him off to finish high school in her native Fiji. He graduated in 2001.

Payton talked with Patch about the moment she realized that Osama bin Laden had been killed by U.S. forces.

Culver City Patch: How did you feel when you got the news that bin Laden had been killed?

Chandra Payton: I felt numb. It was hard to believe they finally got him. But it doesn’t bring my son back. I still grieve over him. It’s never going to go away.

Patch: What do you think will happen as a result of his death?

Payton: It will hopefully stop other terrorist attacks, as the mastermind is now gone. I feel proud to be an American because they took such a brave step to get bin Laden out of the way.

Patch: What would you say to other military families that still have sons and daughters abroad?

Payton: Hopefully, bin Laden’s death will bring an end to all the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and bring our troops home.