For Suzanna Ausborn, the death of Osama bin Laden had extra meaning.

Ausborn’s husband, Maj. Jeffrey O. Ausborn, was gunned down in the Kabul airport on April 27 while helping to train Afghan air force personnel. She spoke to Stars and Stripes by phone on Monday.

“My mom called me and said, ‘You have to turn the news on — Osama bin Laden has been killed.’

“And it’s the first time in five days that I’ve felt happy,” she said, her voice cracking. “It’s the first time I’ve felt Jeff’s death meant something.”

Jeffrey Ausborn was helping train Afghans that morning, when Ahmad Gul, a 50-year-old pilot from the Tarakhail district of Kabul province, opened fire with two guns. He and eight other Americans were killed. Gul was also killed.

Suzanna Ausborn struggled with her words.

“I felt almost ... retribution. He was gunned down like my husband was gunned down.”

But like many Americans, she struggled with the concept of celebrating death, even of someone as heinous as bin Laden.

“It sounds terrible like from a bitter person, but I was happy,” she said. “I was happy when I heard the news. It brings a little balance to the world.”

— Patrick Dickson

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