Bill Cahir

Who was Bill Cahir?

Bill Cahir, 40, was a former newspaper correspondent for Newhouse Newspapers; a Congressional committee staffer for U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy; and a 2008 Democratic candidate for U.S. Congress in Pennsylvania's 5th District, when he was killed by a single enemy gunshot August 13, 2009 while on active duty in Afghanistan as a U.S. Marines Reservist.

William John Cahir was a sergeant in the Marine Corps Reserve's 4th Civil Affairs Group, headquartered in Washington, D.C., a unit that specializes in civil-military operations. Former Assistant U.S. Secretary of Defense Paul McHale described Cahir's military job as "a community organizer while carrying a pack and a rifle."

Cahir was killed during Eastern Resolve II, a pre-dawn offensive operation in Helmand Province's Now Zad district. Much of the August 12, 2009 operation focused on controlling the Taliban-held town of Dananeh. Once a city of 30,000, more than three years of fighting had previously reduced the town’s population to an estimated 2,000. Eastern Resolve II involved approximately 400 U.S. Marines and 100 Afghan troops, and was intended to cut militant trade and supply lines, and to allow local residents to vote in the August 20 Afghan presidential election, 2009.