[Peace-discuss] another one close to home

[Ricky Baldwin]

It can probably never be said enough that though the
war is halfway around the world, it is still as close
as just down the street.  Those of us involved with
unions and Jobs With Justice just learned that one of
our friends and allies, Phil Martini (rep at Service
Employees Int'l Union Local 73) just lost a son,
killed in Iraq at 24 by sniper fire.

I know that many of us know Mohammed at World Harvest
and have felt for his family recently as they have
suffered multiple losses.  I think about my neighbor
just a block away whose friend Shawna was killed in
Iraq, and my college housemate who just returned from
Baghdad with the Army, and my good dfriend from
Buffalo who is still reporting from Iraq.  I'm sure
many of us have others we care about we could name,
too.

It just reminds me why we do this...

Take care of yourselves,
Ricky

--- Robert Naiman  <naiman.uiuc at gmail.com> wrote:

> This story ran on nwitimes.com on Thursday, April
> 13, 2006 1:01 AM CDT
> 
> Lansing soldier killed in Iraq
> 
> Times Staff Reports
> 
> LANSING | Lance Cpl. Philip John Martini, of
> Lansing, died Saturday by
> sniper fire in Iraq, according to his family.
> 
> He was undergoing a combat operation and was in
> route to help another platoon.
> 
> Martini, 24, graduated in 2000 from Thornton
> Fractional South High
> School. He joined the military in Fall 2003 and was
> member of the U.S.
> Marine Corps.
> 
> His service will be 2 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, April 18,
> at Drumm Funeral
> Home, 1200 E. 162nd St. in South Holland. A mass
> will be 10 a.m.
> Wednesday, April 19, at Holy Ghost Catholic Church,
> 700 E. 170th St.
> in South Holland.
> 
> He will be taken to Abraham Lincoln National
> Cemetery in Elwood, Ill.
> 
> ---
> 
> NBC5.com
> More
> 
> 
> 
> MARINE KILLED
> Images
> Video: Protesters At Funeral
> Video: Family Mourns Marine
> Semper Fi Fund
> 
> 
> 
> Family Mourns Lansing Marine Killed In Iraq
> Brothers Remember Martini's Life
> 
> POSTED: 12:31 pm CDT April 13, 2006
> UPDATED: 9:14 pm CDT April 13, 2006
> 
> CHICAGO -- A 24-year-old Marine from Lansing, Ill.,
> was killed over
> the weekend in Iraq.
> 
> Lance Cpl. Philip John Martini was killed Saturday
> by hostile
> small-arms fire in Al Karmah, near Fallujah,
> according to the Web site
> iCasualties.org.
> 
> 
> According to a statement issued by Lt. Col. David
> Furness posted on
> the site, Martini died after a "well-planned and
> coordinated attack"
> by enemy forces, which U.S. Marines repelled.
> Furness said Martini was
> moving to reinforce troops when he was killed.
> 
> Martini, who graduated in 2000 from Thornton
> Fractional South High
> School in Lansing, was on his third deployment in
> Iraq since joining
> in 2003.
> 
> "My mother would like everyone to mourn our loss
> second, for a
> celebration of his life, and his contribution to it
> itself," said
> Martini's brother, James, reading from a letter from
> Martini's mother.
> 
> He was a member of the 1st Battalion 1st Marines,
> 1st Marine Division.
> Joining the Marine Corps had been a dream of
> Martini's.
> 
> "He said, 'Mom, if I'm joining the Marines, I'm
> going to be a Marine.
> The best of the best,'" James Martini said. "All of
> us will remember
> his smile, his love of his family and friends,
> especially the love of
> his big brothers."
> 
> Outside of Thornton Fractional South High School,
> the flag rested at
> half-staff in Martini's honor. To date, more than
> 2,300 soldiers have
> died in the Iraq war.
> 
> "It wasn't something that you ever dream could
> happen," said Anthony
> Martini, another brother. "It was terrible. I think
> the past day,
> we've learned to laugh a little more, reflect on
> Phil."
> 
> Funeral services will be held Tuesday, April 18,
> from 2 to 9 p.m. at
> Drumm Funeral Home, 1200 E. 162nd St. in South
> Holland, Ill.,
> according to the Northwest Indiana Times. A mass in
> Martini's honor
> will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, April 19, at Holy
> Ghost Catholic
> Church, 700 E. 170th St. in South Holland.
> 
> Martini will be laid to rest at Abraham Lincoln
> National Cemetery in
> Elwood, Ill.
> 
> Martini's father urged anyone who wanted to send
> flowers or
> condolences to instead make a donation to the
> Injured Marines Fund.
> 
> "Phil was loved by cousins, uncles, aunts, just as
> much as we loved
> him," said Martini's father, Philip Martini. "He's
> so missed."
> Copyright 2006 by NBC5.com. All rights reserved.
> This material may not
> be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
> 


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