Family members say Bill Cahir had a kind of indomitable spirit, one that propelled him through difficulties toward accomplishing a goal, reported Michael Lee Pope earlier this year.

After 9/11, Cahir decided to leave his career as a journalist and join the Marine Corps. After his application to become a Marine had originally been denied because of his age, he lobbied members of Congress to get a special exemption.

Cahir, 40 of Alexandria, died Aug. 13, 2009 of a gunshot wound sustained while conducting combat operations in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan.

"We all thought he was crazy," said Brett Lieberman, a former colleague at Newhouse News Service.

On April 8, 2006, Cahir married Washington lawyer Rene Brown at the Old Presbyterian Meeting House. The couple settled in Rosemont on West Cedar Street. Brown was pregnant with twins at the time of Cahir’s death.



MORE THAN 4,300 U.S. military members have been killed in Iraq and nearly 800 more have been killed in Afghanistan since Sept. 11, 2001. More than 35,000 have been wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On Veterans Day, we honor and thank all those who have served in the military, in times of war and peace. It is also a time to reinvigorate efforts to provide the best services and opportunities to our veteran. In the past year, the new GI Bill provides a giant step to pay for college for veterans. The Post-9/11 GI Bill, championed by Virginia’s U.S. Sen. Jim Webb (D), dramatically increases the educational benefits extended to members of the military who have served at least three months of active duty since Sept. 11, 2001. George Mason University has been on the forefront of implementing the GI Bill for veterans locally.

Efforts to improve health care, employment and housing for veterans are also underway and deserve meaningful commitment of resources.



Lance Cpl. Daniel Ryan Bennett, 23 of Clifton died Jan. 11, 2009, in Helmand province, Afghanistan. "He loved his country, and we’re so proud of him," said his mother.

2nd Lt. Sean P. O’Connor of Burke died Oct. 19, 2008 while stationed at Hunter Army Air Field, Savannah, Ga. O’Connor was an athlete in soccer, baseball and football who attended Fairfax County Public Schools and was a 1999 graduate of Bishop Denis J. O’Connell High School in Arlington.

Pfc. David Sharrett, 27 of Oakton, died Jan, 16, 2008 in Iraq. On Oct. 24, 2008, his father, David H. Sharrett, was on hand along with former U.S. Rep. Tom Davis (R) as the Oakton Post Office on White Granite Drive was renamed to honor his son.

Army 1st Lt. Thomas J. Brown, a George Mason University graduate and Burke resident, died on Sept. 23, 2008, while serving in Iraq. His unit came under small arms fire, and Brown, 26, died from his wounds.



HERE ARE the names of some of the local men and women who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. We repeat these names several times a year to honor their service and to keep their memories in our consciousness.

If you know of someone who should be included in this list, or if you would like to share how you are honoring the memory of a family member or friend lost, or about the progress of someone injured, please let us know.

Sgt. Scott Kirkpatrick, 26, died on Aug. 11, 2007, in Arab Jabour, Iraq. Kirkpatrick, who graduated from Park View High School in Sterling, and also considered Herndon and Reston as his hometowns, was a champion slam poet. His father, Ed Kirkpatrick, calls him the "warrior poet," and he and his wife help injured vets at Walter Reed through the Yellow Ribbon fund (www.yellowribbonfund.org).

Ami Neiberger-Miller of Sterling lost her brother, U.S. Army Spc. Christopher Neiberger, in August 2007 when he was killed by a roadside bomb while serving in Baghdad, Iraq. He was 22 when he died. Since her brother’s death, Neiberger-Miller has devoted herself to the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (www.taps.org), which provides peer-based emotional support and other services for families of the fallen, and provides intensive services and activities.

Staff Sgt. Jesse G. Clowers Jr., 27, of Herndon, died when an improvised bomb exploded near his vehicle in Afghanistan on Aug. 12, 2007.

Jonathan D. Winterbottom, 21, of Falls Church, died in Iraq on May 23, 2007, of wounds inflicted when an "improvised explosive device" exploded near his vehicle.

Nicholas Rapavi, 22, of Springfield, died Nov. 24, 2006, of wounds received during combat in Anbar province in Iraq.

Army Cpl. Andy D. Anderson, 24, was killed by enemy fire in Ar Ramadi, Iraq on Tuesday, June 6, 2006. He had been a respected football and basketball player at J.E.B. Stuart High School and had proposed to his high-school sweetheart about three weeks before he was killed.

Airman 1st Class LeeBernard E. Chavis, 21, was killed Oct. 14, 2006, by sniper fire in Iraq, trying to protect civilians from a roadside bomb.

Spc. Robert Drawl Jr., 21, a 2003 graduate of T.C. Williams High School, was killed by a bomb in Kunar, Afghanistan, on Aug. 19, 2006.

United States Army Specialist Felipe J. Garcia Villareal, 26 of Burke, was injured in Iraq and flown to Washington Hospital Center, where he died Feb. 12, 2006. He was a graduate of Herndon High School.

Capt. Shane R. M. Mahaffee, 36, a 1987 graduate of Mount Vernon High School, died May 15, 2006. He was a lawyer, married, with two children. His parents live in Alexandria.

U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Nicholas Kirven, who, at 21, was killed in Afghanistan in 2005 during a firefight in a cave with insurgents. He enlisted while still in high school after 9/11.

Maj. William F. Hecker III, a 1987 graduate of McLean High School, was killed in action in An Najaf, Iraq, Jan. 5, 2005.

Staff Sgt. Ayman Taha, 31, of Vienna, was killed Dec. 30, 2005, when an enemy munitions cache he was prepping for demolition exploded.

Army Capt. Chris Petty of Vienna was killed Jan. 5, 2006.

Staff Sgt. George T. Alexander Jr., the 2,000th soldier to be killed in Iraq, was literally born into the Army here in Northern Virginia, at DeWitt Army Hospital at Fort Belvoir. Alexander died at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, Oct. 22, 2005, of injuries sustained in Samarra, Iraq, Oct. 17.

Lt. Col. Thomas A. Wren, 44, of Lorton, died in Tallil, Iraq on Nov. 5, 2005.

Marine Capt. Michael Martino, 32 of the City of Fairfax, died Nov. 2, 2005, when his helicopter was brought down in Iraq.

Fairfax Station resident Pfc. Dillon Jutras, 20, was killed in combat operations in Al Anbar Province of Iraq Oct. 28, 2005.

1st Lt. Laura M. Walker of Oakton was killed on Aug. 18, 2005, in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

CW4 Matthew S. Lourey of Lorton died from injuries sustained on May 26, 2005 in Buhriz, Iraq.

Operations Officer Helge Boes of Fairfax was killed on Feb. 5, 2003, while participating in counterterrorism efforts in eastern Afghanistan.

Among other local lives lost: Lance Cpl. Tavon Lee Hubbard, 24, of Reston; 1st Lt. Alexander Wetherbee, 27, of McLean; 1st Lt. Jeff Kaylor, 25, of Clifton; Coast Guard Petty Officer Nathan B. Bruckenthal, 24, of Herndon; Army Chief Warrant Officer Sharon T. Swartworth, 43, of Mount Vernon; Command Sgt. Maj. James D. Blankenbecler, 40, of Mount Vernon; Capt. James F. Adamouski, 29, of Springfield; Sgt. DeForest L. Talbert, 22, of Alexandria; Marine Cpl. Binh N. Le, 20, of Alexandria; Staff Sgt. Russell Verdugo, 34, of Alexandria. Army Capt. Mark N. Stubenhofer, 30, from Springfield; Marine Gunnery Sgt. Javier Obleas-Prado Pena, 36, from Falls Church; Marine Sgt. Krisna Nachampassak, 27, from Burke; Army Staff Sgt. Nathaniel J. Nyren, 31, from Reston; Marine Lance Cpl. Tenzin Dengkhim, 19, from Falls Church, Navy Chief Joel Egan Baldwin, 37, from Arlington; Maj. Joseph McCloud, of Alexandria; Major Gloria D. Davis, 47 of Lorton.