Ashley Henderson Huff — in memoriam

This was sent out to all Sigma Kappa alumni today in honor of Ashley. Although we were not very close friends, I was the one that "preffed" Ashley back in 2000. I do NOT claim to be a reason why she became part of our sorority, but I am so glad that she was. I was and am very proud to call her a "sister". I'm also thrilled that the anniversary of her death has not gone unnoticed.

Today marks the anniversary of the death of Ashley Henderson Huff, Epsilon Epsilon. She was the 53rd woman to die in combat in Iraq, and is the first known sorority casualty.   At the time of her death on September 19, 2006, Huff was due to return home in six weeks and planned to buy a house in Savannah with her husband.  The couple had been married for 13 months, but she had been deployed for most of that time.   Before leaving for Iraq, she didn't have time to replace her maiden name with her married name on her uniform, and had told her sister that she couldn't wait to come home and greet her husband with Huff sewn on it.

Her husband said the couple talked by phone every day. Even separated by thousands of miles, he felt their relationship was going stronger because of those conversations. "It was a difficult thing to spend your first year on the phone, but I felt like this situation did more to bring us together than anything could," he said. "She was always so strong, the strongest person I have ever met.”

"She could do it all," said Ashley Klanac, Henderson Huff's roommate at the Epsilon Epsilon house.  

"She could do everything from riding horses, to being a sorority girl, to being in the ROTC. Anything she pursued, she excelled at."  Klanac recalled how the events of September 11, 2001 affected her roommate and sister.  "She said, 'If we go to war, I will go.'" Two months before Huff shipped out, Lt. Noah Harris, a close friend from her ROTC program, was killed during fighting in Baquba, Iraq.  She fought back tears as she spoke at his memorial service on the University of Georgia campus.  "Noah made me realize how important it is to see my friends and value my relationships," Huff said, according to an account of the service in the campus newspaper.

"I think everyone should do some time in the military, because only when you are separated from something do you know how much you've truly got," Huff wrote to her husband.  She advised him not to postpone simple pleasures waiting for her to come home.  "Don't let life pass you by, just because we are apart," she said.

The Army posthumously awarded Huff a Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Combat Action Badge. 

You Can Honor Her Memory:

Since learning of her passing, the Sigma Kappa Foundation has been raising funds to endow a scholarship in Huff’s memory, and needs continued support in order to reach the fund’s goal.

Please consider making a gift today to celebrate her life and her ultimate sacrifice.