PDA

View Full Version : Funerals Honor 2 Killed in Afghanistan



thedrifter
09-01-09, 07:17 AM
Funerals Honor 2 Killed in Afghanistan

By Mark Berman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 1, 2009


Bill Cahir wanted to help people. That desire propelled him to Capitol Hill, into journalism, into the Marines at 34 and to run for Congress.

"He was very empathic," said his brother, Bart Cahir. "He had a lot of empathy toward understanding your position. From that flowed a desire to help people and a desire to be engaged in service."

Sgt. William J. Cahir, 40, of Alexandria died Aug. 13 of a gunshot wound suffered during combat operations while on dismounted patrol in Afghanistan's Helmand province, according to the Marine Forces Reserve.

On Monday, friends and family gathered at Arlington National Cemetery to bid him farewell. A military band led the horse-drawn caisson carrying Cahir's silver casket, followed by hundreds of mourners.

Cahir was born in Bellefonte, Pa., and he and his three siblings grew up in nearby State College, where their parents, John and Mary Anne, worked for Pennsylvania State University.

After graduating from Penn State in 1990 with a degree in English, Cahir moved to Washington to work for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.).

He left Capitol Hill in 1995 to work as a Washington-based reporter for Newhouse News Service, writing for several Pennsylvania and New Jersey papers.

Cahir had talked about joining the military as far back as college, his brother said. The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks made up his mind, so, despite being 34, he joined the Marine Corps Reserve.

"He didn't want to be on the sidelines," said Brett Lieberman, a friend who worked with Cahir at Newhouse. "He wanted to clearly make a difference in the outcome of the war. I think the best way he saw that he could do that was to quite literally be on the front lines."

Cahir served two deployments in Iraq, returning to his reporting job in between.

He was a father figure to younger Marines, said friend Chris Murphy. "Whenever there were kids around, Bill would always say to the other Marines, 'Be on your best behavior; watch your language,' " Murphy said.

Cahir married Rene Browne in 2006, and their first children -- twins -- are due in December.

After two tours in Iraq, Cahir decided to pursue another lifelong dream: In January 2008, he resigned from his reporting job to run for Congress in his home state. He came in second in the Democratic primary, earning 34.9 percent of the vote. But he made an impact during the campaign: during a memorial service in State College last month, strangers came up to the family to say Cahir had inspired them on the campaign trail.

He left for Afghanistan in May.

A memorial fund has been established for his wife and children at http://www.billcahirmemorialfund.org.

Earlier Monday, family and friends of Army Sgt. 1st Class Severin W. Summers III came together to honor him at Arlington.

Summers, 43, of Bentonia, Miss., was one of three soldiers killed Aug. 2 in Qole Gerdsar, Afghanistan. Insurgents attacked their vehicle with a makeshift bomb, according to the Defense Department.

Also killed were Capt. Ronald G. Luce Jr., 27, of Fayetteville, N.C., and Sgt. 1st Class Alejandro Granado, 42, of Fairfax. All three were members of the Mississippi Army National Guard, assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 20th Special Forces Group (Airborne), based at Jackson, Miss.

During the service, American flags were presented to Summers's wife, Tammy, and daughter Shelby. They also received condolences from Secretary of the Army Pete Geren.

Summers was born in Lafayette, La., according to the U.S. Army Special Forces Command (Airborne) public affairs office. He enlisted in 1989 as an infantryman, later completing Army Ranger School and the Special Operations Combat Diver Course, among other military education. He also graduated from Louisiana State University.

Among his many awards and decorations were the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal and the National Defense Service Medal. He also earned badges to go along with his Ranger and Special Forces tabs.

Summers loved to hunt and was an outdoorsman, family friend Phyllis Beach told the Natchez (Miss.) Democrat. She said he was a "a very jovial, bubbly person."

Ellie