Army 1st Lt. Andrew J. Bacevich

Remember Our Heroes

Army 1st Lt. Andrew J. Bacevich, 27, of Walpole, Mass.

1st Lt. Bacevich was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; died May 13, 2007 in Balad, Iraq, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit during combat patrol operations in Salah Ad Din Province, Iraq.

Son of professor who has been critical of war is killed in Iraq
The Associated Press

BOSTON — The son of a Boston University professor who has been a critic of the war was killed in Iraq, the Defense Department said May 14.

First Lt. Andrew J. Bacevich was the son of Andrew J. Bacevich, an international relations professor who has said that the U.S. is mired in a war it cannot win through military might alone.

“Our reckless flirtation with preventive war qualifies as not only wrong, but also stupid. Indeed, the Bush Doctrine poses a greater danger to the United States than do the perils it supposedly guards against,” the elder Bacevich, a West Point graduate and retired Army lieutenant colonel, wrote in an opinion article in The Boston Globe in March.

“We urgently need to abrogate that doctrine in favor of principles that reflect our true interests and our professed moral values,” he wrote. The Globe said he declined to comment May 14 on his son’s death.

Bacevich did not immediately return telephone messages to The Associated Press left at his home and office on May 14.

The younger Bacevich was killed May 13 when an improvised device exploded while he was on a combat patrol in Salah Ad Din Province, Iraq, according to the military.

Bacevich, 27, was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, at Fort Hood, Texas.

His sister, Jennifer Bacevich, 34, reached May 14 at the family’s home in Walpole, Mass., said her brother joined the Army after he wasn’t able to enroll in ROTC because of his asthma. When the military eased its restrictions, he went on to train to be an officer.

Despite his asthma, Jennifer said her brother was active and athletic.

“He was a guy who liked to run marathons,” she said. “He liked to be with his friends. He was a real funny guy. He liked to run. He liked to play soccer.”

Her brother was single at the time of his death, she said.

The elder Bacevich is the author of “The New American Militarism: How Americans Are Seduced by War,” published in 2005.

In an article in “The American Conservative” magazine last September, he wrote:

“It’s past time to re-examine the post-Cold War assumption that military power provides the preferred antidote to any and all complaints that we have with the world beyond our borders.

“We must be strong and we must be vigilant. But we also need to be smart, and getting smart means ending our infatuation with war and rediscovering the possibilities of politics.”

Romney recalls former aide killed by IED in Iraq
The Associated Press

BOSTON — The war in Iraq hit home for Mitt Romney this week, after a former Statehouse staffer was killed by an improvised explosive device while serving in Iraq.

Army First Lt. Andrew J. Bacevich, 27, the son of a Boston University professor who has been a critic of the war, served as a legislative aide to then-Gov. Mitt Romney in 2004. Bacevich handled all bills sent to the governor’s desk for review and signature.

Romney, now a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, talked with Bacevich about his decision to enlist before he left the Statehouse.

“I got to know Andrew as a legislative aide in my office, and before he left we met and talked about his plans,” Romney said in a statement. “He was driven by a desire to serve, first as part of our team and then as a member of the military. His loss is a deep personal loss for me and for all of those who knew him.”

Bacevich was killed May 13 when an IED exploded while he was on a combat patrol in Salah Ad Din province, Iraq, according to the Defense Department. The soldier had been assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, at Fort Hood, Texas.

Bacevich was a 2003 graduate of Boston University, where his father, Andrew Bacevich, is an international relations professor. The elder Bacevich, a West Point graduate and veteran of the Vietnam and Gulf wars, has criticized Bush’s strategy and said the U.S. is mired in a war it cannot win through military might alone.

In a statement, Bacevich’s family remembered him as a man of humor and handsome looks who had overcome the challenges childhood asthma to be an Army officer and a marathon runner.

“Andy was a born leader who felt called to serve his country,” the statement said. “Our family will miss him dearly and forever.”

Soldier killed in Iraq to be buried in Walpole
The Associated Press

BOSTON — A Massachusetts soldier killed in Iraq will be buried near his family’s home in Walpole, instead of Arlington National Cemetery, to enable relatives to visit his grave more often, his father said May 18.

First Lt. Andrew Bacevich, 27, died May 13 of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit in Salah Ad Din province.

He will be buried in Maple Grove Cemetery in Norwood on May 21, following funeral services at St. Timothy Catholic Church, said James Delaney, director of the funeral home handling the final rites. A wake is scheduled for May 20, Delaney said.

Bacevich’s father, Andrew, said on WBUR-FM, a National Public Radio station in Boston, that the Iraq war is probably headed for a “dismal conclusion.” The elder Bacevich is a veteran of the Vietnam and Gulf wars and an outspoken critic of the current war.

“So our kinship is that he and I had a knack for picking the wrong war in which to serve,” said Bacevich, a Boston University professor.

Army 1st Lt. Andrew J. Bacevich was killed in action on 5/13/07.