HUFFINGTON
09.22.13
INVISIBLE CASUALTIES
care of it,” Don said, referring to
Joshua’s addiction. He thought
the birth of Joshua’s daughter,
Jayden, in September, would
change Joshua’s life, help him kick
drugs. “When you hold her for the
first time, you’re going to love her
so much — just like I loved you
when I held you for the first time,”
Don told him. “And he said, ‘Dad,
you were right,’ he absolutely
loved her,” Don said to me.
“And he said, ‘Dad, you don’t
have to worry because the Navy is
going to drug test me all the time
so it would show up.’”
“That made sense to me,” Don
thought, “because he’s a known
drug abuser so they would keep an
eye on him.”
Joshua went back to his old
job, staring at security cameras
at Oceana Naval Air Station in
Virginia Beach. He was bored to
tears, he told Don. Anxious to get
on with his life, but stuck until
the Navy processed his discharge.
Going home occasionally to hang
out with Andrew and Emily and
check in on his mom.
She died Feb. 10 of colon cancer. The family, Don said, “was in
bad shape.” A memorial service
was held two days later in New
Jersey. Joshua had to be back on
duty that Monday, Valentine’s
Day, a traditional family holiday
when the Lipstein clan would
gather. “My heart sank for him,
knowing he had to leave,” Don
said. “Here he’s leaving his wife
and daughter, family — all the
people he loves the most, after his
mom’s memorial service, going
back to a job he hates, living on a
Joshua is
pictured
straight out
of boot camp
in 2005.