I just found out that Col. Andrew Bacevich, USA (Ret.), son Andrew Jr. was killed in action this past week.

First Lieutenant Andrew J. Bacevich , 27, of Walpole, died Sunday in Balad of wounds he suffered after a bomb explosion according to the military. Andrew was a 2003 graduate of BU. Andy had wanted to make the Army his career ever since he was a small child. Even after he was dropped from ROTC for medical reasons, he continued to persue his dream of serving his country; eventually he realized his dream and was commissioned into the Army the summer after his graduation from BU.

Col. Bacevich has been a persistent, vocal critic of the Iraq war, calling the conflict a catastrophic failure. He is a veteran of the Vietnam and Gulf wars, and has repeatedly criticized the war in his writings and described President Bush's endorsement of such "preventive wars" as "immoral, illicit, and imprudent."

A West Point graduate and former faculty member at both West Point and Johns Hopkins University; Bacevich teaches in the history and international relations departments. He has written books on US diplomacy and military power and has contributed op-ed pieces on the Iraq war to newspapers and periodicals. He is considered one of the more intelectually inclined officers to come out of the Army in recent history. He has also been a staunch Republican and a vocal critic of the current Administration.

In an op-ed column published recently in the Globe, Bacevich wrote that "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.

Andy was a smart, athletic, civic minded young man with a calling to serve and protect others. He was one of the Sonnenkinder of his generation. An irreplaceable, brilliant point of light that shall be missed.

As difficult as this may be on his father and family right now (they must be crushed), one has to wonder how this will affect his fathers, up to now measured and polite, criticism of this Administration and the war. Apparently he has privately stated prior to this disaster that he wished to remain moderate so as not to draw attention of undue criticism to his son. One wonders if the gloves will now come off. Col. Bacevich is widely and highly regarded throughout the military and conservative circles in the Northeast.

R