DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

1st Lt. Andrew J. Bacevich, 27, of Walpole, Mass., died May 13 in Balad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit during combat patrol operations in Salah Ad Din Province, Iraq.He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

The name was very familiar. Too familiar, I thought, to be a coincidence. Unfortunately, I was correct. It was a familiar name.

Son of professor opposed to war is killed in Iraq By Brian MacQuarrie, Globe Staff | May 15, 2007

Boston University professor Andrew J. Bacevich has been a persistent, vocal critic of the Iraq war, calling the conflict a catastrophic failure. This week, the retired Army lieutenant colonel received the grim news that his son had been killed on patrol there.

First Lieutenant Andrew J. Bacevich , 27, of Walpole, died Sunday in Balad of wounds he suffered after a bomb explosion, the military said yesterday. The soldier, who graduated from BU in 2003 with a degree in communications, is the 56th service member from Massachusetts to be killed in Iraq.

I've met Bacevich senior. His paths and mine crossed on active duty, a brief intersection. I read and reviewed his book, The New American Militarism. I don't agree with all he says, but his writings on Iraq have been very good, as a critique, if I don't always care for his proposed solutions. I am a fellow-traveler of his views on the evolution of the military as a tool over the last 30 years.

And the irony of all this is crushing.

I'm sorry for your loss, Professor. In a perfect world, the parent holds the chair for the child down at Fiddler's Green, not the other way 'round.

Now is the time at Castle Argghhh! when we dance: In Memoriam.