Posts tagged ‘Afghanistan’
A Penn Stater, Sam Griffith, Killed in Afghanistan
One of my Alumni Association colleagues forwarded to me an email the other day with some sad news: A 36-year-old Penn State grad, Maj. Sam Griffith ’97, has been killed in Afghanistan.
Griffith, a Marine fighter pilot by training who was serving a tour of duty with the reserves, was shot and killed last Wednesday, Dec. 14, in Helmand province. He was part of the Marine Corps Reserves’ 4th Air/Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, out of West Palm Beach, Fla.
The email notifying us of Griffith’s death came from Dave Schlosser ’97, president of our L.A. chapter, who knew Griffith from their Penn State days. Back then, Schlosser was dating someone who lived near Griffith’s hometown in the Raleigh, N.C., area, so when Griffith would go back home for a weekend, Schlosser would catch a ride with him.
“We would make the trip together in his beautifully restored 1960s Ford Mustang, leaving mid-afternoon Friday for the nine-hour drive and returning Sunday night,” Schlosser wrote. “I met him through the ride board at the HUB, and although many might think it strange to hop in a car with a total stranger, we quickly realized we had much in common (like both being Eagle Scouts), and it made the long drives go by quick.”
Griffith, whose funeral takes place today in Virginia Beach, becomes the seventh Penn Stater to die in Afghanistan or Iraq; the complete list is here.
Griffith was 36 and leaves behind a wife, Cassandra Warnock Griffith ’99, whom he met at Penn State, and two young boys. You can read news coverage of Griffth’s death here, here, and here, with the latter story offering a particularly heartbreaking detail: “The family says his 7-year-old son wrote Griffith a letter asking him not to go on this tour, saying he’d be furious if he was killed in action.”
Tina Hay, editor
The Art of War
The New York Times is featuring excerpts from combat artist Michael D. Fay’s blogs this week, as part of their Home Fires series. (The series publishes the writings of men and women who have returned home from military service.) Fay ’82 A&A, who retired from the military in December, has been blogging since Sept. 2005, and though he’s a pencils-and-paper artist by trade, he also paints the wartime scenery with his words:
Everywhere amongst the chaos were vaguely reassuring hints of normalcy. One almost expected to turn a corner and find a pick-your-own pumpkin patch and a warm mug of spiced cider. That is, until another round of gunfire, an explosion, or a frantic stream of radio traffic shattered the reverie.
We profiled Fay in the Nov./Dec. 2005 issue of The Penn Stater (you can read the profile here), explaining how he happened upon his field. Fay is currently working in Afghanistan as a military correspondent, so he’ll have plenty of chances to continue writing about war. He’s also working on a memoir. For now, you can read The New York Times series by starting with Part 1 here.
Amy Guyer, associate editor
New Book Honors Michael Murphy
The other day we received a new book called Seal of Honor: Operation Red Wings and the Life of Lt. Michael P. Murphy, USN, by Gary Williams.
You may remember Murphy ’98 Lib as the Navy SEAL who died in Afghanistan in 2005 and who, two years later, received the Medal of Honor posthumously. We ran a feature story on Lt. Murphy in our January-February 2008 issue—that’s the opening spread you see below, and you can click here to download a PDF of our article.
Murphy was just 29 when he died during a mission intended to capture a Taliban leader. After he and the three members of his team were surrounded, he exposed himself to enemy fire to make the cell-phone call for help. The mission resulted in the worst loss of life in the SEAL program since it began in 1962—11 of the 12 SEALs involved died. Though others on the mission were honored with a Navy Cross (all posthumously, except for the lone survivor), Murphy was the only man on that mission to receive the Medal of Honor.
Seal of Honor hit bookstores May 5. The author, Gary Williams, has no apparent connection to Lt. Murphy or the Navy SEALS; he’s just a guy in Ohio who was “reared with a near-reverent respect for those who wear our country’s uniform,” according to his author bio. This is his third book.
Amy Guyer, associate editor
Another Tribute to Bill Cahir
Yesterday’s Washington Post contains this lovely, touching account of Monday’s funeral for Bill Cahir ’90 at Arlington National Cemetery.
Tina Hay, editor
More on Bill Cahir
Bill Cahir ’90, who was killed Aug. 13 in Afghanistan, was buried yesterday at Arlington National Cemetery.
The Washington Post had a story yesterday and the Centre Daily Times has one today. In addition, you can hear an NPR piece on him here and see NBC’s Brian Williams pay tribute to him here. I was especially moved by the grief on the faces of his family in the NBC video; my heart just aches for them.
Anyone interested in making a memorial contribution can visit the Web site of the Bill Cahir Memorial Fund.
Tina Hay, editor
Dan Gerstein on Bill Cahir
Among the many tributes to Bill Cahir ’90 that have come in since his tragic death in Afghanistan last Thursday is this one from Forbes.com columnist Dan Gerstein. A very nice piece.
Tina Hay, editor
Remembering Bill Cahir
This morning brought the sad, sad news that Bill Cahir ’90 has been killed in Afghanistan.
Bill, who was 40, was a Penn Stater and the son of Penn Staters: his father, John Cahir ’61, ’71g, was the University’s vice provost and dean for undergraduate education, and his mother, Mary Anne Cahir ’63, ’68g, was Penn State’s director of development for the Philadelphia region. John and Mary Anne, both retired now, are wonderful people, and I can’t imagine their grief.
Bill was a news reporter for a time—and a very good one, I’m told—and later, in response to the Sept. 11 attacks, he enlisted in the Marines at the age of 34. Last year he ran unsuccessfully for Congress in the 5th district, which includes State College.
He did several tours of duty in Iraq and was serving in Afghanistan when he was killed. In addition to his parents and siblings, he leaves behind a wife who is pregnant with twins.
Tina Hay, editor
More Kudos for Vince and Vance Moss
I was flipping through the latest Philadelphia Magazine over a Caesar salad at Chili’s at lunch today and saw that Vince Moss ’94 and Vance Moss ’94 are getting well-deserved praise—again—for their humanitarian work in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The identical twins, who are physicians in southeast Pennsylvania, are in the Army Reserves and have volunteered for tours of duty in both countries, where they treat people with war injuries, among others. Philly Mag recognized them in its annual “Top Doctors” issue as among the region’s rising stars under age 40.
We ran a short profile—shown here—of the Moss brothers in our Class Notes section last May-June. (Click on it if you’d like to see it big enough to actually read!) You also can read more about them in this profile posted April 10 on the Web site of Philadelphia’s Channel 3 TV.
Tina Hay, editor
Wise Words
I love when a person turns out to be exactly as I’ve pictured, partly because that doesn’t happen very often. When Gerald Marzorati, editor of the New York Times Magazine, stepped to the podium last week at the CASE Editors Forum, he not only looked like the editor of a smart magazine, but he sounded like one. Which was even better. His keynote address put long-form journalism into a historic perspective, and it had all of the insight any writer or editor could want. It also had this mind-blowing nugget: An average cover story in the magazine costs $40,000.
Here at The Penn Stater, we don’t have that kind of budget. (Almost no one does.) But we share his philosophy of what makes a great magazine story.
Marzorati believes long-form journalism is a distinctly American form of writing, a result of our pragmatic culture and its constant changes. “We crave stories—all cultures do—but we also crave facts. Lots of facts. And facts are more compelling, easier to digest, when arranged narratively.” He provided some behind-the-scenes details about two pieces I especially loved: Mark Leibovich’s profile of MSNBC talking head Chris Matthews, and Dexter Filkins’ look at the situation on the Pakistan/Afghanistan border.
Like most of us who care about journalism in any form, Marzorati is worried. Is there an audience for stuff that’s probably not best consumed—dare I say enjoyed—on a Blackberry screen? Is there an economic model that will allow in-depth reporting and careful, thoughtful editing to continue?
He ended his talk on a hopeful note. You can read a transcript here.
Lori Shontz, senior editor
Subscribe
