Seamus Ahern, Boston 2004

By M.E. Sprengelmeyer, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published August 22, 2008 at midnight

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Big news shook this little riverfront city on May 14, 2004.

A fracas in the parking lot outside an area Holiday Inn marred the retirement party for East Moline's longtime police chief. As Quad-City Times columnist Barb Ickes later put it: "the cops called the cops on the cops."

The skirmish made for scandalous headlines. On a slower news day, maybe they would have paid more attention to a lightly attended, run-of-the-mill political event on the edge of downtown.

VFW Post 8890 was visited that day by a little-known Chicago Democrat who was trying to win an open U.S. Senate seat.

Then a state senator, Barack Obama was no veteran of foreign wars. But, "Yeah, he had a good reception here," 81-year-old post commander Raymond Alonzo recalls.

A couple dozen folks awaited his arrival in folding chairs spread across a rickety wooden floor. Among them was a 23-year-old with a strong Irish name: Seamus Ahern.

Seamus (pronounced "shay-mus") had just graduated from college in Dubuque, Iowa, and was pondering a career in law enforcement - or maybe law school.

But just before graduation, he got the notice. He was being called to active duty with the Marine Reserve. He'd be heading for Iraq.

Seamus spent a few weeks back home with family as he packed up to ship out to predeployment training at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Just a few days before he was to leave, big brother Dennis, a political junkie, insisted that he come see this up-and-coming Democrat.

Seamus had never heard of Obama. Obama wasn't even his brother's first pick to win the U.S. Senate primary. He backed a guy named Gary Chico.

"As Democrats in the state of Illinois, if you lose, you rally around the person who won," Dennis Ahern says.

So he went to see Obama a few times. He was impressed by him. And when the candidate scheduled a stop there in East Moline, Dennis Ahern told his brother to join him.

"I think it's worth your time to go hear him talk," he said.

The little brother agreed to tag along.

Who knew?

That decision would change the direction of the young Marine's life. It led to an important footnote in the story of Obama's political rise. And it linked that little VFW Hall to a piece of history at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.

"This was really, maybe his launching pad, so to speak," commander Alonzo says, standing outside the door to the men's room where veterans still take target practice at a strategically placed cartoon of "Hanoi Jane."

*

In the blue-collar manufacturing towns near the Mississippi River, there aren't a whole lot of folks who look like Barack Obama.

Not too many black folks. Not too many Ivy League graduates. Not too many millionaires.

But it's hardworking country that Chicago Democrats must get to know in order to win statewide office in Illinois.

A VFW hall might have seemed like hostile territory for someone who had spoken out against the Iraq war.

In 2002, before a congressional vote authorizing possible military action, Obama spoke at a rally in Chicago and denounced the "weekend warriors" he said were trying to "shove their own ideological agendas down our throats," regardless of the costs in lives.

"I don't oppose all wars . . . What I am opposed to is a dumb war," Obama said, according to published accounts. "What I am opposed to is a rash war."

When Obama brought his message to East Moline, he entered the VFW hall through a door next to a wall-mounted American flag.

"And just as soon as he opened the door, you could just see the charisma and the energy that he had," Seamus Ahern remembers, sitting near the spot. "It filled the whole room."

Obama slowly worked his way around the room. He shook hands and made at least a little conversation with every person.

Dennis Ahern stopped him to say hello. And then he made an introduction: "This is my little brother, Seamus, and he's about to go to Iraq."

They ended up talking for several minutes about the young Marine's plans, where he was going, what he was doing, and why.

Military service was a big part of his family history.

His father had been a Marine in Korea. Two brothers served in the Marines. Another was an Airborne Ranger. His hometown, Silvis, is known for "Hero Street," a block-and-a-half stretch where eight Mexican-American families lost soldiers in World War II and Korea.

Obama told Seamus, "I want you to know, when I become elected, if there's anything I can do, I want to be there to support you."

Before a speech to the larger group, Obama asked folks to recognize the young man who was about to ship out to Iraq. Obama said he was against the war, but that he'd always support the troops.

Seamus Ahern was touched. But when it was done, he didn't know if he'd support Obama. Politics was the last thing on his mind. He had to say his goodbyes and ship out to Camp Pendleton.

"You've got to have your mind 100 percent right to be going through something like this," he says.

*

Ahern's unit would be leaving for Iraq in August. One hot day at Camp Pendleton, as the 23-year-old corporal had just gotten back from the rifle range, he got a cryptic voice mail. Watch the Democratic National Convention, it said. He'd hear his name.

It was "such an out-there message," he says. "I didn't know if this was a joke . . ."

He and some Marine buddies gathered by a TV at the barracks. "I think we were having a few cold ones," he remembers.

Soon, Obama appeared on the screen, taking the stage at Boston's Fleet Centre. "Hey, I've met that young guy up there," Ahern told his buddies.

The keynote address began with shades of the late Barbara Jordan's 1976 convention speech, when she pointed out how different it was for a black woman to be at that lectern.

"Let's face it," Obama told the crowd, "my presence on this stage is pretty unlikely."

He went through his now familiar life story: son of a Kenyan father and white mother from Kansas. "My parents shared not only an improbable love, they shared an abiding faith in the possibilities of this nation . . ." Obama said.

It was the first time most Americans had ever heard of Obama, "a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too." He spoke of "the audacity of hope," the lofty, if vague, catchphrase he would ride in the early days of the 2008 presidential contest.

The speech had its policy side, too. He rattled through the progressive planks that he said made Sen. John Kerry the right choice - more jobs, better health care, energy independence and more.

Obama mentioned Kerry's military service in the Vietnam War. "And John Kerry believes that in a dangerous world, war must be an option sometimes," Obama said. "But it should never be the first option."

War talk was sure to catch the attention of the Marines at Camp Pendleton. But so was what came next.

"You know, a while back, I met a young man named Seamus in a VFW Hall in East Moline, Illinois. He was a good-looking kid, 6-2, 6-3, clear-eyed, with an easy smile. He told me he'd joined the Marines, and was heading to Iraq the following week. And as I listened to him explain why he'd enlisted, the absolute faith he had in our country and its leaders, his devotion to duty and service, I thought this young man was all that any of us might hope for in a child. But then I asked myself: Are we serving Seamus as well as he is serving us?

"I thought of the 900 men and women - sons and daughters, husbands and wives, friends and neighbors, who won't be returning to their own hometowns. I thought of the families I've met who were struggling to get by without a loved one's full income, or whose loved ones had returned with a limb missing or nerves shattered, but who still lacked long-term health benefits because they were reservists. When we send our young men and women into harm's way, we have a solemn obligation not to fudge the numbers or shade the truth about why they're going, to care for their families while they're gone, to tend to the soldiers upon their return, and to never ever go to war without enough troops to win the war, secure the peace and earn the respect of the world."

Before the speech ended, everyone in the Marine barracks was looking at Ahern.

"I was in shock," Ahern says. "I couldn't believe it. It was something that I wasn't prepared for."

*

Obama's speech got the political pundits buzzing. He hadn't served a day in the U.S. Senate yet, but was he destined for the White House? Oh, the audacity . . .

The speech glossed over Obama's big disagreement with Kerry over his vote for that 2002 war powers resolution. Obama could mention that later, when his opposition to that vote set him apart from other 2008 rivals like Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and former Sen. John Edwards.

Ahern got his 15 minutes of fame. His hometown newspaper wrote about him. Within days, after his unit arrived in Iraq, he got called into the colonel's office.

"He had a cigar in his mouth and said, 'You really like this liberal? I'll remember your name. We're gonna have extra duty or something,' " Ahern says. "I said, 'Awright, sir.' "

It beat his original welcome. Minutes after his unit arrived at the base in Fallujah, insurgents fired a rocket into the compound. New arrivals scrambled for cover in concrete "Jersey" bunkers, Ahern says. "It was unbelievable. We were in a different world."

His job was as an electrician and driver for a 7-ton truck. It wasn't a tip-of-the-spear infantry position, but in the anti-insurgency mission dubbed "Operation Phantom Fury," it meant a lot of convoys sweating roadside bombs.

Each ride he wondered: "Are you going to come back with the same Marines that were in your truck as when you left?" Luckily, he always did.

An Internet cafe provided a connection home. In late October, Ahern decided to send an e-mail to Obama, who had stayed in touch with his family in the Quad Cities.

"As I have reflected on what I am doing over here, thinking back and remembering what you said really motivates the hell out of me," Ahern told Obama.

Obama quickly replied: "It's great to hear from you . . . Just know that everyone here supports you and looks forward to your safe return. It appears that the election will go well for us, and hopefully the next time we meet I will have been sworn in as a U.S. senator. Please let me know if there is anything I can do, and give my regards to your fellow troops."

Several weeks later, after Thanksgiving Day, Ahern sent Obama another note, including "congrats on the awesome election."

Again, Obama quickly replied: "I saw your mom in Moline a couple of weeks ago, and at the time she hadn't heard from you for awhile so she was obviously a little worried - which made me worried, too." He mentioned freshman orientation on Capitol Hill and having breakfast with the president at the White House.

"I expressed to him my pride in the troops and the work they are doing throughout Iraq and Afghanistan, and pledged to work in any ways that I can to bring all of you guys home as quickly as possible while still finishing the job," Obama told the young Marine. "It sounds like morale is still reasonably good, but I also know how difficult and hazardous your duty must be. Take good care of yourself, and have the best possible holiday given the circumstances of being away from home."

In January, just after his official swearing-in, Obama e-mailed Ahern out of the blue, this time so informally he didn't capitalize any letters: "dear seamus: hadn't heard from you in awhile (understandable given how busy you must be), but just wanted to check in to see if you were ok. how's morale over there leading up to the elections? know that we are still thinking about you, and that i have you and your fellow marines in mind as i am discussing issues with rumsfeld and condi rice in my new role in the senate. warm regards, barack obama."

This was before Obama's first fact-finding trip to Iraq - and long before Sen. John McCain's charges that he was jumping to policy conclusions without consulting commanders in the field. Still, the new senator did have eyes and ears on the battlefield: That "good-looking kid . . . clear-eyed, with an easy smile."

*

In the spring of 2005, Ahern returned to East Moline in one piece. He had mixed feelings about the good and bad happening in Iraq.

He'd remember bonding with children as his unit took part in humanitarian work, like distributing food and water or building soccer fields. "The next day, they wouldn't come near because older adults or siblings told them not to," he said.

Back home, he started applying for jobs, including one in Obama's office. The senator called, asking him to run a district office in Moline. "It took me a whole two seconds to give an answer," Ahern says. "I said, 'Yes sir.' "

He worked there for about a year, and later got his current job as a clerk for a state Supreme Court justice at a Rock Island district office. These are doors that probably would not have been opened if not for that chance meeting at the VFW hall.

Because of Obama, Ahern says he does ponder a political career someday. But first, he waits to hear if he'll be accepted for officer training school with the Marines. And he and his brother are getting ready for a trip to Denver.

Dennis Ahern will be one of Obama's delegates at the Democratic National Convention. And, just like old times, his little brother will be tagging along.

Asked what words of advice he might have for his very famous friend, Seamus Ahern said, "I don't know what advice a Marine can give to a U.S. senator. I would just say, 'Stay humble, stay how you've been, and you've definitely laid down the foundation. You can build on that. And keep surrounding yourself with good people.'

"And he has."

sprengelmeyerm@shns.com

• August 22, 2008

  12:12 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  raoul writes:

  obama's a friend? who needs enemies when your friend wants you to fail?

• August 23, 2008

  6:52 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  ckol800 writes:

  How can you say Obama wants the military to fail? Obama wants us out of a situation that costs billions and thousands of lives. What was the reason we went to IRAQ again? WMD's? Still haven't found them? I think he wants more troops in Afghanistan. We can't force our political beliefs on other countries, being in Iraq is not keeping us safe here.

• August 23, 2008

  7:59 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  duhawk writes:

  You are a United States Marine. You serve in a combat zone. You are Irish and from Silvis IL. We of the VFW Post of East Moline are proud of you and your brothers Tim a marine who serve in the first gulf war. Kevin fought in somalia with the Rangers, Brian as a marine in Bosia, your father in Korea as a marine, your grandfather as a marine in theWWI, grandjuncle in the Spanish America War in Cuba, and your greatgrandfather just off the boat from Ireland fought in the Mexican American War and the Civil War , The Ahern family has answer the call to duty in every war since 1848 except Veitnam. No one ws of age to fight that war. we are warriors and Democrats Harry Truman type.

• August 25, 2008

  9:28 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  raoul writes:

  obama's a friend? friend's offer support and congratulation on successes. i'd expect obama wants the mail to stop being delivered from over seas about election time. the majority of servicemen and women smell a rat from afar.

• August 28, 2008

  10:25 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  jando_27 writes:

  All the Duhawks are proud too! :)

• October 1, 2008

  8:12 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  goltrai writes:

  Get a new song and dance raoul. You don't speak for me or anyone else who's served.

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