MEMORIAL Diabetes complications kill passionate soldier

Julie Hickey helped Afghan women and children through the military.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- An Ohio soldier who spent months working with women and children in Afghanistan died of complications from diabetes after she was evacuated to a military hospital in Germany, her mother said Tuesday.
Army Spc. Julie R. Hickey, 20, of Galloway, Ohio, died Sunday at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany, four days after she was evacuated from Bagram, Afghanistan, the Army said.
Hickey's mother, Melody Hickey, said her daughter joined the reserves after graduating from Westland High School in 2002. She wanted to earn money for college and had been planning to start at Ohio State University last fall when she learned she was to be deployed as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. She left for Afghanistan in November.
Helping overseas
Hickey's unit, the 412th Civil Affairs Battalion, is based in suburban Whitehall. The unit specializes in humanitarian assistance and working with displaced civilians, according to its Web site.
"She loved her job," Melody Hickey said. "She was working at a medical clinic, assisting children mostly. She would teach them personal hygiene. She taught them a little English -- how to count from one to 10 and say 'Groovy, man!'"
Melody Hickey said her family has a history of diabetes but that her daughter hadn't been diagnosed with the illness before she left for Afghanistan.
She said the military told her that her daughter fainted at work. She was stabilized and moved to the hospital at Bagram, where she was diagnosed with diabetes.
Julie Hickey was transferred to Landstuhl on June 30. She went into insulin shock and died the day before she was to be sent to Walter Reed Army Medical Center near Washington, D.C., her mother said.
A women's advocate
Hickey returned to Ohio on a two-week leave in late May. She brought with her a burqa -- the head-to-toe covering that many Afghani women wear -- that had been given to her by one of the women's groups with which she worked.
"She had given several speeches to women's organizations there about how women need to stand up and fight for their rights," Melody Hickey said. "One of the women came to see her afterward and told her through an interpreter that it made them happy to see Julie wearing pants and working beside men. She said it gave them hope for the future."
Melody Hickey said the burqa will be buried in her daughter's casket.
"She was so proud to be over there," she said, noting that her daughter died on July Fourth.
"I think it's comforting. It was appropriate," she said. "She told everybody when she was home that you need to appreciate everything you have. We have so much here just because we were born [in the United States]."
Funeral arrangements are being made, but the date hasn't been set because Julie Hickey's body has not yet been returned. Her mother expects that to happen Friday.
Besides her mother, Julie Hickey is survived by her father, stepfather and six brothers, sisters and step-siblings.