This one hit close to home. On Saturday the Department of Defense made the following announcement:
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Spc. Brian M. Connelly, 26, of Union Beach, N.J., died Feb. 26 in Adhamiya, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his vehicle was struck by an explosive device. He was assigned to the 40th Engineer Battalion, Task Force 1-6, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Baumholder, Germany.
Spc. Connelly was a life-long resident of Union Beach Borough in Monmouth County, NJ, and he had been married only five months at the time of his death. Please follow me below the fold to learn more about the life and passing of Spc. Brian Connolly.
Union Beach, like many New Jersey municipalities, is a small town of only two square miles; it is located about 10 miles south of Perth Amboy. Brian Connolly lived there all his life, and he loved to fish for fluke, striped bass, and weakfish with his stepfather, Mark Dammon. Connolly was a member of the class of 2000 at Red Bank Regional High School. After graduation, he studied computer technology at Brookdale Community College for about 18 months. He left to join the electricians' union and was working as an apprentice in New York City until he was laid off. He joined the army in the fall of 2007 and was deployed to Germany. His battalion was sent to Iraq in April of last year.
Brian Connelly and his wife, Kara, had known each other since high school. They had remained friends, but they began a long-distance courtship after Brian was deployed to Germany. He proposed by webcam in February of 2007, and the couple were married while Spc. Connolly was home on a 18-day leave from Iraq in September. As is the custom in many small towns in New Jersey, Brian and Kara were married by the mayor of Union Beach, Paul Smith.
"As per the family's wishes, we will give him a hero's welcome," said Smith, who visited with the family on Sunday.
All flags in the town will remain at half-staff in honor of Connelly until further notice.~source
Brian and Kara had great plans for the future. Just hours before his death, Brian told Kara that his tour of duty in Iraq had been shortened by three months and that he would be returning to Germany in May. Kara will complete her pre-medical sudies at Monmouth University in New Jersey in just over a year, and Brian had hoped to get a construction job to help his wife pay for her education when his enlistment was over. As his mother, Jean Dammann, said:
All he wanted to do was come home and start a family. ~source
Brian Connolly was also a bit of a practical joker. Kara describes him:
He was good hearted. He was funny. ~source
He once got angry at his mother and put itching powder all over her clothes.
"He loved practical jokes, anything to keep people laughing and smiling," his wife said. "He never tried anything with me. He knew better." ~source
Spc. Brian Connolly was loved by the entire community of Union Beach. He is survived by his widow, Kara Connolly, his mother and stepfather, Jean and Mark Damman, and his younger brother, Kevin Connolly. According to icasualties.org, Spc. Connolly is the 76th New Jerseyan who has died in combat since the start of the Iraq War. An additional 453 servicemembers from New Jersey have been injured in the Iraq War.
Thank you, Spc. Connolly, for your selfless service to our country. Rest in eternal peace. Our prayers are for the family and friends you left behind. Poppies are the universal sysbols of remembrance:
About "I Got the News Today" (IGTNT)
I Got the News Today is a diary series intended to honor service members who have died as a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; its title is a reminder that almost every day a military family gets the terrible news about a loved one. Diaries about the fallen usually appear two days after their names are officially released, which allows time for the IGTNT team to find and tell their stories.
Click here to see the series, which was begun by i dunno, and which is maintained by Sandy on Signal, monkeybiz, noweasels, greenies, blue jersey mom, chacounne, twilight falling, joyful, roses, SisTwo, SpamNunn, a girl in MI, JeNoCo, and MediaProf.
Please bear in mind that these diaries are read by friends and family of the service members chronicled here. May all of our remembrances be full of compassion rather than politics.