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| Two Down |
| 2008-08-20 |
| Mashpee's a small town on the Cape. In two days for Mashpee, Massachusetts. A pair of remarkable young men: USMC PFC Daniel Maguire, 19, Mashpee High class of 2007, was killed in a firefight in Fallujah August 14. He was an Eagle Scout and a top student who enlisted to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps, and becuase, his friends say, he very much believed in what America is trying to do in the world. “I’m very proud of my son and what he was doing,” said Dan McGuire, 45, of Mashpee. “He went from high school straight into the Marine Corps. His grandfather was a Marine, and joining the Corps was a desire of his for a long time.” High school pal Selina Souza, 20, of Mashpee said McGuire “touched” many lives and “deserves to be remembered as a hero. He was brave, smart and kind, and didn’t deserve to die so young,” she said. “He could have accomplished a lot in his life had he been given the chance. It’s a comfort to know that he died fighting for something he believed in.” Army PFC Paul E. Conlon, 21, Mashpee High class of 2005, was killed August 15 by an IED in Afghanistan. Another top college-bound student who opted to enlist. He reportedly had the opportunity to leave when he was wounded earlier in his tour but refused. “I can’t leave my brothers,” he reportedly told his mother, who is quoted saying her son “died doing what he always wanted to do.” The small town on Cape Cod, population about 13,000, lost its first soldier in Iraq in August 2007, when Army Staff Sgt. Alicia Birchett was killed in Iraq. On the local public radio station yesterday, a MHS guidance counselor described trying to counsel the boys not to enlist and risk needless death in time of war, which sounds like they understood what this war and citizenship are about better than she does. The reporter asked if these deaths have brought the war home to this small town, a stock war-death question that misses the point, when you consider that the war came home to Mashpee a long time ago, when these boys decided to forego college to serve their country, at risk of sacrificing all. |
| Posted by:tu3031 |
| #4 I always think with sorrow and gratitude upon this quote from McCaulay: "Then out spake brave Horatius, The captain of the gate' To every man upon this earth, Death cometh soon or late, than how can man die better, Than facing fearful odds, For the ashes of his forefathers and the altars of his gods'" I know, it's a trite old sentiment and an old and overquoted favorite of the Victorian era... but they were good and brave young men and women, who went into it with open eyes and generous hearts. It is, at the end of things, a comforting thought to hold. |
| Posted by: Sgt. Mom 2008-08-20 23:44 |
| #3 Well said, TW. Freedom isn't free, and those of us who enjoy it owe a tremendous debt to those who defend it. These young men died defending not only their country, but trying to liberate those who had been held hostage by the forces of true evil. They gave their lives for a noble cause. May God bless and comfort their family and friends with that knowledge. |
| Posted by: Jolutch Mussolini7800 2008-08-20 19:19 |
| #2 Most of us lose our lives to accident or disease. These three and many others chose rather to spend their lives to protect the world from evil. That they stood firm in their choice despite argument from their school guidance counselor bespeaks the consciousness of their choice, and the nobility of purpose that drove them. May their memories be for a blessing to those whose lives they touched. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-08-20 16:38 |
| #1 RIP. My deepest gratitude for their sacrifice. The spirit of the Minutemen isn't gone, despite the worst efforts of the media and "progressives" here in Mass. |
| Posted by: xbalanke 2008-08-20 14:12 |