Former Reporter and Candidate Killed in Afghanistan

A former reporter and Pennsylvania congressional candidate who joined the Marines died this week while serving in Afghanistan, according to news reports.Sgt. Bill Cahir, 40, was serving in the Helmand Province, where there has reportedly been increased resistance. The Express-Times of Easton, Pa., his former paper, reports that Cahir enlisted in the Marines in 2003 when he was 34.The paper also reports that Cahir’s wife is expecting twins.Cahir left his post as the Express-Times Washington D.C. correspondent to enlist and went on to serve two tours in Iraq in Ramadi and Fallujah from August 2004 to March 2005. He formally resigned from his postion at the paper to run for the open seat in in Pennsylvania’s 5th District last year. He was defeated in the Democratic primary by Mark McCracken. Republican Glenn Thompson went on to defeat McCracken in the general election.Cahir wrote a stirring first person narrative of his enlistment in the Marine’s in the Express-Times that the paper has republished since his death under the headline, “Bill Cahir, journalist, soldier, great American, killed in Afghanistan.” It is worth reading – check it out here.