Mentor Gold Star Moms Reflect on Osama bin Laden's Death

Donna Harmon said she was ecstatic when she learned Osama bin Laden had died and even considered taking the day off work.

"It's an emotional day," she added. "Josh would be happy."

Meanwhile, Diana Ross' feelings were mixed. She quoted the Bible – specifically Ezekiel 18:23, which asks, "Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked ... Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?"

Donna Harmon and Diana Ross, who live in Mentor-on-the-Lake and Mentor, respectively, have an even better reason to hate Osama bin Laden than most.

They are both gold star mothers, meaning they each had a son who died while serving in the military.

Marines Sgt. Mark Smykowski, Ross' son, died after the Hummer in which he rode hit a roadside bomb in June 2006 in Iraq.

Cpl. Joshua Harmon, the son of Donna Harmon and Willoughby Hills Fire Chief Richard Harmon, died with 13 other soldiers in a helicopter crash near Kirkuk, Iraq, in 2007.

Both have suffered through a loss that few can understand, a loss that began with the 9/11 attacks that bin Laden masterminded.

"If it wasn't for 9/11 and Osama, Josh would still be alive right now," Harmon said.

Both Harmon and Ross have had time to heal after the loss of their sons. Harmon and other gold-star moms remember their children by traveling to soldier memorials across the country. Ross recently spent time in Iraq talking to Christian women as part of the Arab Women Today program.

The two are friends and they recently went to the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (or TAPS, for short) program in Washington, D.C.

And while Ross understands Harmon and other gold-star moms' joy and relief at bin Laden's death, she has a different perspective.

"It would have been good if he accepted Christ before he died," she said. "That would have been better than him just dying."