Marine Sgt. Bill Cahir killed in Afghanistan. Ran as Democrat for US Rep. (Pa-5)....

[Faryn Balyncd]

Bill Cahir, Express-Times reporter-turned-Marine sergeant, killed in Afghanistan

by Sarah Wojcik






Former Express-Times correspondent and U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Bill Cahir has been killed in combat in Afghanistan, family and friends said Thursday.

The Marine Corps could not immediately confirm Cahir's death. A casualty branch officer at Headquarters Marine Corps said a staff sergeant had been assigned to the family but efforts failed to reach the staff sergeant.

A friend of the family said Cahir's wife, Rene, was told that Cahir, 40, was killed in Afghanistan's Helmand River Valley. The friend said Cahir had been deployed in the spring.

Another friend, June Weaver, confirmed the death to The Associated Press.

Politico.com reports that a posting on the Facebook group for Cahir's unit, the 4th Civil Affairs Group, said, "The 4th CAG lost Sgt. Bill Cahir to enemy fire in Afghanistan today."

Cahir's wife is expecting twins, according to Deborah Howell, Cahir's former boss at Newhouse News Service.

The Associated Press reported Wednesday that Marines were meeting heavy resistance in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand. The fighters continued into the town of Dahaneh despite roadside bombs and gunfire.

Cahir enlisted with the Marine Corps Reserves in 2003, despite that at 34 years old he was bumping up against the military's age limit.

Cahir wrote a first-person account of his experience in boot camp for The Express-Times in 2004. It was published on the Fourth of July. Read his account.

Howell called Cahir's determination to enter the Marine Corps a late calling in his life. Despite her attempts to talk him out of it, she said Cahir was steadfast in his decision to enlist.

"He just had to do it. And finally, you know, you just have to say I understand you have to do this," Howell said. "He regretted nothing."

Express-Times Editor Joseph P. Owens said Cahir was determined to serve his country after the Sept. 11 attacks rocked the nation. Owens said word of Cahir's death "stunned and devastated" him.

"Bill Cahir was a great American. The horror of the murders of 9/11 inspired him to do service to this country," Owens said Thursday. "He did everything he could to become an active serviceman. And he accomplished his dream."

Martin K. Till, president and publisher of The Express-Times and lehighvalleylive.com, remembers Cahir's sudden interest in the Marine Corps as a drastic but important change in the correspondent's life.

"He wanted to do it and thought it was the right thing to do for himself and his country," said Till, a U.S. Army Special Forces veteran. "This is just shocking to me. I just can't believe it."

Cahir served two tours in Iraq in Ramadi and Fallujah from August 2004 to March 2005 and then again in Fallujah from September 2006 to April 2007.

Cahir worked as a Washington, D.C., correspondent for The Express-Times from the late 1990s before leaving his beat to join the Marines and then run for Pennsylvania's 5th Congressional District in 2008. He lost in the Democratic primary.

U.S. Rep Charlie Dent, R-Lehigh Valley, said he remembered frequent interviews and conversations with Cahir about politics during Cahir's days in the nation's capital. He called him a fair-minded and exceptional journalist.

"He's just a completely decent, honorable man," Dent said. "My thoughts and prayers go out to his family."

One poignant discussion Dent had with Cahir concerned a memorial ceremony for two servicemen Dent had attended during a trip to Afghanistan. Dent recalled the thousands of soldiers and officials lining the processional route as the caskets were loaded into a plane.

"I remember talking to Bill about that," Dent said. "I never thought it would be him."

Pennsylvania Democratic Party Chairman T.J. Rooney said Cahir gave back to his country in all aspects of his life: as a journalist, public servant and serviceman. Rooney said his former colleague and friend has now given the greatest sacrifice.

"We mourn his loss in ways that are unspeakable," Rooney said. "He was a good, good man and he leaves behind a great, great family."

Mary Isenhour, executive director of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, described Cahir as a "phenomenal person."

"He was an incredible, incredible guy," Isenhour said. "So this is just really, really sad."


http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/breaking-news/index.ssf/2009/08/expresstimes_reporterturnedmar.html

The Bill Cahir youtube video, Democrat for 5th District Congress