Sgt Bill Cahir of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania was a State College Area High School graduate and a Penn State graduate. He enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve in 2003. The decision wasn't an easy one for the then 34 year old. He would enter as a private first class, not an officer. He would stand to lose thousands of dollars in civilian salary and would in all likelihood be activated and sent to the Middle East. He'd already considered enlisting three other times in his life. Once just after graduating from college, then a few years later he entertained the idea again, and once again after the events of September 11. But in October 2003, the recruiter asked Bill the decisive question: "In the future, will you look back and regret your inaction if you don't enlist?" Bill knew it was his last best chance to be a Marine. He signed the papers. Bill served two tours in Iraq from August 2004 to March 2005 and from September 2006 to April 2007. He was deployed to Afghanistan in the spring of 2009. Before joining the Marines, he was an Express-Times Washington, D.C., correspondent since 1999. In January 2008, he resigned as a reporter for the Express-Times of Easton to run for Congress in Pennsylvania's 5th Congressional District. He lost the hotly contested primary to Mark McCracken, a Clearfield County commissioner. At that time, Cahir said, "My journalism career is over. I'll talk to the Marine Corps and see what they want me to do and talk to my wife and see what she wants me to do." Before joining Newhouse, Cahir worked for the Southampton Press, Education Daily and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee under Sen. Ted Kennedy. He was killed at age 40 in Afghanistan in the Helmand River valley. He is survived by his wife Rene Browne, who is pregnant with twins.
Sgt Bill Cahir of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania was a State College Area High School graduate and a Penn State graduate. He enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve in 2003. The decision wasn't an easy one for the then 34 year old. He would enter as a private first class, not an officer. He would stand to lose thousands of dollars in civilian salary and would in all likelihood be activated and sent to the Middle East. He'd already considered enlisting three other times in his life. Once just after graduating from college, then a few years later he entertained the idea again, and once again after the events of September 11. But in October 2003, the recruiter asked Bill the decisive question: "In the future, will you look back and regret your inaction if you don't enlist?" Bill knew it was his last best chance to be a Marine. He signed the papers. Bill served two tours in Iraq from August 2004 to March 2005 and from September 2006 to April 2007. He was deployed to Afghanistan in the spring of 2009. Before joining the Marines, he was an Express-Times Washington, D.C., correspondent since 1999. In January 2008, he resigned as a reporter for the Express-Times of Easton to run for Congress in Pennsylvania's 5th Congressional District. He lost the hotly contested primary to Mark McCracken, a Clearfield County commissioner. At that time, Cahir said, "My journalism career is over. I'll talk to the Marine Corps and see what they want me to do and talk to my wife and see what she wants me to do." Before joining Newhouse, Cahir worked for the Southampton Press, Education Daily and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee under Sen. Ted Kennedy. He was killed at age 40 in Afghanistan in the Helmand River valley. He is survived by his wife Rene Browne, who is pregnant with twins.
