MOTHER's DAY 2008  / Nadia McCaffrey (MOTHER)
GOLD STAR MOTHER' …DAY ?
May 11 2008

Mother's Day?
What is the meaning of these two words?
By Nadia McCaffrey

The fact is that there is no one left to call me Mother anymore!
I need to gather myself in order to remain psychologically sound.
As every year, for four years, this year is unlike the last, as time goes, the harder, the more excruciating the pain has become. I miss Patrick's voice telling me:
I love you Mom.
..just calling out of the blue for no reason, that was typical of Patrick .
I have the regret to say that I had not fully grasped the deep meaning of his spontaneous actions, I always have loved him so very much, just seeing him for a short few minutes made my day worth while.
Patrick was born 38 years ago (May 26 1970) at Stanford University Hospital, weighing just over five pounds at 1:30 pm his birth took an hour, what an amazing day that was, Bob and I just became parents of a child that one day would become a legend in his own way and a role model for many.
What have I accomplished since Patrick's death?
I feel as I am drowning in the middle of an ocean without shores. I cannot think of myself, my thoughts are not here.
Someone said to me once: "Nadia everything that you do is about Patrick or because of Patrick"
I never had thought of it this way, but it probably has some truth!
Memories…My Darling son has not faded in any way from my vision, my memory, and my emotions. Last week, walking by the wheat crackers section of the supermarket, I suddenly burst into tears, seeing in my minds eye the very last package that we had sent to Camp Anaconda, Patrick never received it... he was killed instead and the package came back to us un-opened from Iraq, never got his "Altama" desert boots either.
The boots forever empty will never be worn and are now on display near his medals and photographs.
On his daily phone call, I remember his words with a heaviness of despair in his voice, asking me if we had sent the package yet. He needed his boots, the old pair was holding with duct tape.
I remember three days after Patrick's death, his house in Tracy, was packed with flowers and people, we happened to be watching a series of digital photographs that the soldiers had send us from Iraq, on the computer with Jeanne (who had babysat for him in Sunnyvale) others were standing behind my chair, suddenly we stared at one-another with tears rolling down our cheeks while we all became speechless the room stood in a perfect still, an heavenly scent of roses filled the room so powerfully, after a moment Silvia shouted: Mom…it's Patrick, he his here with us now…
I remember the day of Patrick's Memorial at Fry's Chapel, hundred's of people came, and many stood outside the chapel. Patrick Junior and Janessa Marie were playing in the chapel and laughing, I finally got a hold of Junior who was nine years old at the time, and talk to him gently explaining and at the same time asking if he understood that it was his father inside the flag draped coffin standing before us and that was not respectful to run inside the place. Junior looked at me and said:
yea grandma but, when is my Daddy coming home?
My jaw dropped, and I understood at this instant that we were heading for a long haul of sad emptiness in our lives…
It was hot, after briefly talking to the large number of media; we headed back to the house, while Patrick's body left for his last Home in Oceanside. We had to get ready to proceed in driving ourselves to meet at the cemetery for a very last ceremony. I was in the TV room; Janessa was playing with Lucky in the backyard. Janessa came in the house shouting: Grandma, she had a strong hold of my hand and pull me outside with her, pointing at the lemon tree, she said: you see daddy is here, he loves Janessa, grandma can he stay with us now?
She had this marvelous spark in her eyes and smile that she only had in Patrick's presence. I was choking and sobbing, in tears that wouldn't stop, of course only Janessa saw her Daddy, I felt Patrick's powerful and loving self…
There isn't a moment in a day where his presence is not at my side; Patrick is my strength, my motivation, my only reason of still existing.
With his love I made up a fabric of idealistic dreams dictated by his very own.
The main question is:
Is it happening? Is the Dream Happening?
If it is, then why does it seem never to end, the dream, I mean.
The Centers, I can see them, touch them, walk in them; I know that the materialization is near completion, the interest in the efficiency and purpose of the vision itself has become national and even international.
Do I have the power to close the chapter of this project before life exits my body? I am not so sure anymore.
I know that I am at cross-roads where the choice is made available to me. The temptation of letting go is strong, not waking up seems easy enough; my health is degrading on daily basis.
The challenge has become a black wall where I cannot see the top nor the end, I am becoming exhausted, it is hard to breath, it is painful inhaling each breath this body is telling me to hurry up and finish what I have started, I feel like I am literally falling apart and I am not sure that I can reverse the process I need a miracle to stay alive enough time to finish my mission... we will see!
Holding on to life by a thread, I need to keep my vision undisturbed until completion.
On the other end I want to fulfill Patrick's wishes and be the grandma that he wanted me to be.
Yes, but what am I going to do about it?
I feel very proud of my grand children, Junior has come a long way since Patrick's death, every day he acts and looks more like his dad and he is becoming quiet an athlete and a gentleman as well as a peace maker. Once in a while he and I have a serious talk. Patrick would be so proud of him now, and I make a point to tell him that, I also remind Junior that he can do whatever he choose to do in life and stay with it, never quit. Those are some of Patrick last words to Junior. I truly enjoy his company and conversation, he shows a very healthy curiosity of a bright mind.
His Heart is in a very good place, I love him very much.
My little Janessa is still struggling hard, she needs her dad so badly, they were so close to each other.
I remember, when Patrick came home from boot camp, the family came to welcome him in Santa Rosa airport, the soldiers lined up by the airplane and started to walk in our direction there was quiet a distance and before any one of us could see Patrick, Janessa started to climb the wire fence and screaming Daddy Daddy my Daddy, Silvia and I had a bad time holding on to her, she was 2 years old... She eventually run off into the field toward the long line of National guardsmen and women, straight to her Dad, Patrick did the same thing, run off from the orderly walk to pick up Janessa in his strong arms both laughing to tears and holding on tight to each other…it was quiet a site!
And then there is the LION KING.
Patrick and Janessa both were sitting in the master bedroom watching the Lion King, Janessa would watch the Disney feature 5 times (average) daily.
This took place the night before Patrick left for deployment to Iraq.
I was listening to their voices thinking sadly that this family joy was coming to an end.
At the part where the Lion King is killed in "an ambush" betrayed by his brother, Janessa grabbed on to her father so hard and made a knot of her little fingers around Patrick's neck almost crying telling him:
"Daddy that's you, Daddy that's you…"
Patrick run to me in the kitchen where Silvia and I were cooking dinner for all of us, and his face was flushed: Mom, do you know what Janessa just told me?
I am not coming back am I Mom?
Of course I said, she is just a baby sweet heart, she doesn't know…but, did Janessa have the knowledge of her Daddy's faith?
After that day Patrick had left his home never to walk through the door again, it became a tradition for Janessa and I to watch the Lion King on daily basis and every time the film reached the death of the Lion she curled up close to me and keep saying to me" Grandma that's my Daddy…
Her will is strong and her heart is golden, she truly is a gift.
In some ways I am afraid for her she is such a rebel just like I, it makes me feel helpless, I know who she is.
Janessa is making so much progress in school now, thank goodness for a great tutor.
Last holiday was the closest of a Christmas we have had since 2004.
We trooped together at Bob's house in Bella Vista with Janessa Marie, Patrick Junior, Silvia and I. It was a delight to watch Patrick's children re-discovering each other after a much too long separation and Lucky (Patrick's dog) was very joyful to see all of us.
The last evening we had in Tracy as a family, Patrick opened up, he and I talked on the bench, the silence was heavy and meaningful between words.
Later that evening he asked me to get the Medicine Cards and he picked one of the them, it was the RAVEN, laughing he pointed at his shoulder patch : Mom I am a Raven! (Patrick was attached to the 81 Brigade from Washington "The Ravens" his Unit the 579 from Petaluma was small, 90 soldiers)
The card had this words to share "Open yourself to Miracles Use new eyes, Believe in Magic Embrace life's Wonders"
Watching the crows and ravens flying around us, Patrick would laugh and say: If I don't make it back, I will be here watching over all of you, I will be.
Patrick was shot eight times with the cards on his chest.


Nadia McCaffrey Gold Star Mother of Patrick R McCaffrey Close

Patrick's portrait  / Nadia McCaffrey (Mother)

Many people have asked for Patrick's portrait or a T-Shirt with Patrick on it. Well here it is!

http://www.zazzle.com/nadiamccaffrey/product/228045628968007298

Close

From Army Time, Newsweek, Washington Post, LA Time  / Nadia McCaffrey (Mother)

PTSD home opposed for fear of ‘deranged’ vets

By Scott Lindlaw - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Mar 23, 2008 10:01:06 EDT

GUERNEVILLE, Calif. — Merry Lane, a cul-de-sac shaded by redwoods in Sonoma County wine country, would seem a pleasant place to recover from the psychic wounds of war. Nadia McCaffrey’s dream is to set up a group home there for veterans plagued by post-traumatic stress disorder.

But she is running into stiff resistance from the neighbors. They not only object to the brand-new structure itself, which looks like a four-story apartment house wedged amid their cabins, they are also worried that deranged veterans will move in.

At a community meeting in December, “one person was concerned that even firecrackers would set these people off,” said Andrew Eckers, 54, who lives across the street.

McCaffrey, whose son was killed in Iraq in 2004, said she has tried to reassure the neighbors, but “they are afraid of it because they don’t want to understand it.”

Projects similar to McCaffrey’s have cropped up in other communities across the country, with some also raising concerns from neighbors, in part because of the many news accounts of traumatized veterans committing suicide or murder.

“We’re all, frankly, failing in properly educating society about what PTSD is and what its effects are,” said Jon Soltz, an Iraq war veteran and chairman of VoteVets.org, a veterans advocacy group.

McCaffrey wants to set up at least three group homes around the country where vets with PTSD could live temporarily, and virtually for free, while they study at a college or work at a farm. Donations are paying for the projects, she said.

In Guerneville, a community of about 2,500 where the Russian River draws tourists in the summer, the light green building nestled into a carved-out hillside stands empty.

The county issued a stop-work order because the project exceeded the scope of the plans that were filed, said Shems Peterson, Sonoma County supervising building inspector. Among other things, the project had unauthorized plumbing. Also, a wall meant to divert landslides was deemed insufficient.

Neighbors have raised complaints about the cutting down of several redwoods to make way for the home, the lack of parking and the size of the building, which would house a half-dozen veterans.

“They are inappropriate buildings for the neighborhood. They’re not single-family residences,” said Mark Mondragon, 41. “This could have been Grandmothers for Harmonious Peace, and it wouldn’t have made a difference.”

Jan De Wald, who lives a couple houses down Merry Lane, said too many questions remain unanswered about the project, including who sits on the board, who is the president and what is the staffing.

Most residents said worries about unhinged veterans are not driving the opposition. Eckers emphasized that his primary concern is that the project would open the door to more apartment buildings. But he also raised questions about the screening and supervision of the veterans.

“Generally PTSD guys are normal people,” Eckers said. But he added: “Some are shell-shocked, and they need to be in an institution.”

McCaffrey said screening would be done by veterans and a psychiatrist, and supervision would come from volunteers from a nearby veterans clinic.

“We will not accept anyone who’s not completely functional,” she said.

Rogelio Martinez, 26, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan as an Army Airborne Ranger, said he was diagnosed with PTSD and sought counseling at the urging of his older brother, a military officer. But he said he would have benefited from the type of group housing that McCaffrey is proposing.

“If it wasn’t for my brother, I might be one of those homeless vets on the street,” Martinez said in a telephone interview from San Antonio. “A place like that would be ideal for a person like me or a person in my shoes who didn’t have someone to lean on, like an older brother, to get help.”

Close

AP (The associated Press)  / Nadia McCaffrey (Mom)

 'Casualty Mom' Helping Vets ...
Four years after losing her son Patrick in Iraq, Nadia McCaffrey is now attemp...ting to build a farm near her Northern California home where Iraq War veterans suffering from post traumatic stress disorder can recuperate. (March 17)
From:AP Video
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/first-person-casualty-mom-helps-vets/2877747407

Close

Another Saint Patrick's day without you.....  / Nadia McCaffrey (Mom)

 

St. Patrick's Day



St. Patrick's Day is celebrated annually on March 17 in honor of Ireland's patron saint. St. Patrick was born between 370 and 390 C. E. in the Roman Empire in Britain. His given name (Magonus Sucatus or Maewyn Succat) was changed to Patricius (Patrick) either after his baptism or after he became a priest. At the age of 16, Patrick was kidnapped and sold into slavery in Ireland. He remained in captivity for six years during which time he worked as a shepherd and began to have religious visions. During one of the visions, Patrick became aware of a rescue ship and he fled to France.

Patrick eventually returned to Ireland as a missionary and succeeded in converting the Irish to Christianity. He used a shamrock to explain the Trinity to potential converts. The three leaves of the shamrock represented the father, son, and holy spirit. Patrick is also reported to have driven all of the snakes, a pagan symbol, out of Ireland and into the sea where they drowned. This is perhaps a metaphor for driving paganism out of Ireland since biologists believe there were no snakes in Ireland at the time.

St. Patrick's Day celebrations in the United States are secular and date back as far as 1737 when Boston held its first St. Patrick's Day parade. The day is celebrated with green beer, the wearing of green clothing, and parades. However, in Ireland, the day is primarily a religious occasion.

Because many Americans celebrate their Irish lineage on St. Patrick's Day, March was chosen as Irish American Heritage Month. The month was proclaimed in 1995 by Congress (Public Law 103-379).

Close

I am PROUD to have known you  / Dan Nevins (Friend /Brother in Arms )

My Brother,

we didn't talk much while serving together, but when we did, there was always substance and the more I got to know who you were at your core the more I respected you.  I would have loved to have you in my squad as I am sure every squad leader would have.  You always went above and beyond and that is a testimony to what a great person you were. I want to  tell you that I feel that your sacrifice, though tragic and untimely, was not in vain and history will tell the tale much differently than it is in the present.  So, as you look down on the rest of us, I hope that you will understand that.  At least that is the way I feel.  You left too early to know, but on 10 Nov 2004, when another of our brothers (SFC Mike Ottolini) paid the ultimate sacrifice, I was severely injured in the same explosion.  I lost my left leg in the explosion and after 27 surgeries, after being evacuated to Walter Reed they were able to save my right leg.  Now, three years later, I am back at Walter Reed having the right leg amputated.  It was just too much pain to deal with daily and the recurring bone infections were "show stoppers".  Now that I have had the surgery on the 23rd of January 08, I feel much  better, and Hopefully I will be walking again soon.

I know that we have made our sacrifices for a just and good reason, and I am PROUD to have known you and served with you.  I will ALWAYS remember you, as well as Andre and Mike, in addition to all of those who made it home on their own power, but have their continuing battles that go unseen.

Again, Thank You for being the man who you were.  I am honored to have served in the same unit with you, in the same Army, and for the the Greatest Nation in the World, and Proud to have fought with you as a brother in arms for a cause that history will view as necessary and just.  God Bless you and yours.

Your Brother,

 SSG (R) Dan Nevins

Close

Patrick McCaffrey Sr Avenue, Tracy, CA  / Nadia McCaffrey (Mother)

Tracy has picked out new subdivisions in which streets will be named after troops killed in the Iraq war.
By John Upton

Tracy casualties of Operation Iraqi Freedom will be honored on street signs in new Tracy neighborhoods.A 20-year-old City Council policy instructs developers to name at least one street in every new subdivision after a current or past resident killed while serving in the armed forces In the late 90s, we ran out of names, which was great; planner Victoria Lombardo said Thursday and now, unfortunately, we have new ones Sgt.

 Patrick McCaffrey lived on a Street named after one of Tracy casualties of the Vietnam War until he was killed in Iraq in 2004 After he found out he was going to deploy, said McCaffreys mother, Nadia McCaffrey, he said,

Well, I hope theres not going to be a street named after me Of course, we laughed at the time. 
A street named after Patrick McCaffrey will be in the Southgate subdivision, according to Lombardo which is being built south of the western end of Schulte Road. My grandson is now 12, Nadia McCaffrey said. 
He was talking about it this Memorial weekend, and I said, Yeah, if you are patient, we will be able to go into the street thats named after your dad. Hes really excited he always asks about it .

A street there will also be named after Sgt. Steven Bridges, who died in December 2003. His mother, Loreta Bridges, said Thursday she was excited by the news.Streets in the Yosemite Vista subdivision will be named after Pfc. Jesse Martinez and Lance Cpl. Brandon Dewey. Yosemite Vista is being built east of MacArthur Drive and south of Schulte Road. It will keep Jesses name and him alive in the towns eyes,  Martinezs mother, Jan Martinez, said Thursday.
A street will be named after Sgt. 1st Class Tung Nguyen in Tiburon Village a 103-home project planned northwest of the corner of MacArthur Drive and Valpico Road. Kimball Lornes spokesman Bill Stanton said he expects home construction to begin in Tihuron Village next spring. 

Joseph Menusa Lane, near Lowell Avenue and Corral Hollow Road, was named for Sgt. Joseph Menusa after he became (he first serviceman killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom in March 2003. Tracy casualties of the war in Iraq will be honored in new Tracy neighborhoods, following a 20-year-old City Council policy to name at least OflC Street in every new subdivision after a resident killed while serving in the armed forces.

Close

Remembering Patrick...  / Chrissy Loya (Friend)
"To Patrick's mother, 
it has taken me so long to find the words to say how sorry I am about him. I met u briefly one day on Roosevelt when Pat had is as he called it his (muscle car,)So funny & so into making sure everyone else was ok, a shoulder to cry on, someone to laugh with, he was one that brightened my day. All the advice he had given me about do's & don'ts will not be forgotten. Our friendship was for a very long time even though we went to different schools. Him at Homestead and me at Fremont. The smile on his face, u got to love it. I have so much to say, but it hurts so much to know my friend is gone but not far away & to meet him in heaven,I can not wait for that day. So my condolences go out to his wife & kids,& from the pictures that I have seen are so beautiful & to u of course his dear mother that he talked so often of.
I will remember the smile he has & the one star that shines so bright knowing he is looking down on all he knows & loves so much. "God Bless You All""
Chrissy Loya of Sunnyvale, Ca

Close

In Memory of Our Children  / Nadia McCaffrey (Mother)
To all the Fallen Soldiers, in Patrick's Memory

http://blip.tv/file/405444
Close

Trading Arms for Farms  / Nadia McCaffrey (Mother)
Trading Arms for Farms

A new movement is finding work for returning Iraq veterans on small-scale farms across the country. The results have been positive for vets -- and for struggling rural communities.

Megan Tady 
December 4, 2007 

Finally home from combat in Iraq, Steve Edwards felt detached from his friends and family.
Edwards had witnessed the highly publicized death of his friend, California National Guardsman Patrick McCaffrey, in June 2004. Edwards was the first to tell Patrick's mother what the military would not: Patrick was shot by the Iraqi soldier he was training. The Pentagon eventually acknowledged these claims in 2006.

Edwards himself was also injured by a roadside bomb that left him with a limp.

"I was happy to be home; I was happy to be with my wife and daughter again," Edwards said. "But even with family, I just didn't feel like I belonged anymore. At least, I didn't feel like I belonged around people like my wife and daughter, who were just innocent."

Suffering from acute post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Edwards withdrew. One particularly dark night, he called Patrick's mother, Nadia McCaffrey, who had been counseling many veterans who had served with her son. Edwards had locked himself in a room, and wouldn't come out, he told Nadia, until he understood what was happening to him.

The next day, Nadia arranged for Edwards to get help -- not through treatment at a Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital, but at a monastery in Oregon. Edwards' plight solidified what Nadia had already been thinking: Struggling war veterans need to get back to the land to find peace.

In 2007, Nadia created the Veterans’ Village, an organization seeking farmland where veterans can work and rehabilitate. Construction is nearly finished on a farm in Sonoma County, California, and additional "villages" are planned for upstate New York and North Carolina.

"The only thing that helped him was to get him to a different state of mind," she said. "I hear it over and over [from vets] that they just want to be out in nature. Why? Because its freedom. It's not a challenge. And it's really satisfying for them when they plant something and watch it grow. It's not for everybody. But many of the veterans will find peace this way."

An Unfamiliar Life

Earlier this month, CBS reported that over 120 veterans committed suicide each week in 2005. Around the same time, a U.S. Army survey found that 25 percent of active-duty soldiers and 50 percent of reservists were receiving or needed mental health services after combat. Almost a quarter of America's homeless population are war veterans.

"Our veterans are coming home, but they're not being taken care of the way they should," Nadia said. Spit out by the war machine, veterans often encounter red tape and hoops at the VA.

"Most vets, when they come back, especially the younger vets, they don't realize the benefits they have because the military doesn't tell them," Edwards said. "And the VA doesn't exactly say, 'Hey, come on back to the VA, we'll help you out.' They don't advertise. You don't know where to get help. You're lost."

Along with being rebuffed by the VA, Edwards said it was difficult when his family tried to understand what he had been through in Iraq.

"You already feel awkward enough about what you've gone through," Edwards said. "But [your family is] sitting there trying to understand you instead of accepting you; it makes you feel even more detached."

Day-to-day tasks became difficult for Edwards. Being in a crowd of people was especially trying. "There were a lot of crowds [in Iraq], a lot of confusion and activity going on," Edwards said. "When I get out in crowds and around a lot of people, I become very anxious and that army training, that hyper-vigilance of wanting to pay attention to everything and everybody and look for escape routes, that kicks in."

Nadia, who has perhaps stepped in to help mentor veterans the way she would have comforted her own son, says soldiers like Edwards are just not easily able to reintegrate into society.

"The life that was so familiar to them in the past has become something completely foreign to them," Nadia said. "They don't fit anymore. They don't function as the father, the husband, or the son that they were."

When Nadia first began envisioning the Veterans’ Village, she asked Edwards to join her. He agreed, and is now a board member of the organization.

Edwards is hopeful that a farming environment will be healing for veterans. "It's peaceful and tranquil," he said. "You're getting back to nature. You're getting back to the earth. Just the serenity of being on a farm will really help a great number of vets struggling with PTSD or finding their place in society again."

Veterans Make New Farmers

Nadia and Edwards aren't alone in their back-to-the-land philosophy. They're joined by dozens of other organizations and small farms across the country looking to place struggling vets in agricultural communities.

Along with assisting Nadia with acquiring the land for the first Veterans’ Village in California, the organization Farms Not Arms is helping veterans connect with seasonal jobs and internships on farms across the nation. The organization is supported by the Family Farm Defenders, Global Exchange, and a long list of farms and businesses.

Farms are "a place to give [vets] work and vocational training and just a healthy living environment," said Michael O'Gorman, one of the founders of Farms Not Arms.

Another coalition, the Farmer-Veteran Coalition, is bridging the relationship between farmers and vets. And the organization Veteran Homestead has built "Victory Farm," a supportive housing program for veterans located on an 80-acre working organic vegetable farm in New Hampshire.

O'Gorman says the agriculture push is not one-sided. Just as veterans have been affected by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, so too have rural and farming communities in the United States. According to a 2007 Carsey Institute study, young adults from rural areas enlist in the military at disproportionately higher rates than other areas because of lack of other opportunities. The study concluded that the death rate for rural soldiers was 48 percent higher than the rate for soldiers from the city or suburbs.

"We're in such dire need of new farmers that maybe by bringing the veterans onto the farms as a place to heal, we can also hopefully find some new young blood to go into agriculture," O'Gorman said. "It's kind of a mutual self-help thing."

Since its inception, Farms Not Arms has been highlighting the affects of U.S. militarism on rural communities. He said farmers are "being written off, or sacrificed for this war." Their anti-war message is rooted in opposing the "enormous waste of resources" for war that threatens farm work, according to the Web site.

"We're really on the front lines of this war because of the heavy tolls it's taking on the rural communities," O'Gorman said. "And we're on the front line of global warming because we deal with it in our vocation. We're dealing with the loss of farmers and farm land. So we're really seeing all of these issues tied together as upside-down priorities of our country."

O'Gorman, who has been farming for 37 years, says the biggest farming crisis is the lack of new, young farmers. "With free trade agreements, people just think we can get the food from somewhere else," he said. "I don't think that's healthy for our national security, or for the quality of our life or our food. We're going to wake up one day and regret that we didn't train a new generation of people how to feed ourselves."

For Edwards, he's just hoping a little farm work will go a long way in helping veterans. "I don't care what war, what era. I just want better help and better care for any and all veterans."

Related Articles:

Bush's Next Preemptive Strike
Harold Meyerson

The CIA's Flim-Flam Man
Tara McKelvey

Why Are Iraq War Movies Box-Office Flops?
Sudhir Muralidhar

Exporting the Anbar Awakening
Spencer Ackerman

An Accidental War with Iran?
Brian Beutler

Tags: Iraq/The War on Terror

Most Recent Articles:

What Ever Happened to Moderate Republicans?
By Thomas F. Schaller
December 6, 2007

One Student, No Vote
By Adam Doster
December 6, 2007 | web only

My Shiny New eBrain
By Ezra Klein
December 6, 2007 | web only

Left Behind?
By Dana Goldstein
December 5, 2007

The FundamentaList
By Sarah Posner
December 5, 2007 | web only

More...
Megan Tady is a national political reporter for In These Times and a freelance journalist based in Western Massachusetts.
Close

DAN RATHER REPORTS * Heroes at Home *  / Nadia McCaffrey (Mother)
http://www.hd.net/drr230u.html 


This Dan Rather Special was aired on September 11 2007 
In Patrick's Honor and Memory
With all my love, Mom

You Can Order the DVD at HDNet Store on line

PS: There is one inexact statement in the report: 
Patrick was shot 8 times, from three sides....he never had a chance...(The autopsy report confirm this) Close

In memory of Patrick McCaffrey  / Tiffany Ho (friend's daughter )
Dear Uncle Patrick I remember you even thought I meet you a a young age. I wish that you were still here with us now, but we know that you are a hero. And you are a hero in the eyes of thousand of people. We miss you uncle Patrick. Close

I love You Patrick........  / Nadia McCaffrey (MOM)
http://www.laurazucker.com/media/MEMORIAL_DAY.mp3;  

Thank you Laura. Close

Tribute to Patrick  / Nadia McCaffrey (MOM)
http://www.youtube.com/arlingtonwestfilm Close

MISSING AND LOVING U  / Dino Pena (Brother 4 Life )
HI MOM I AM SOO SORRY FOR NOT CALLING U. 
ITS JUST SO HARD FOR ME TO TALK TO U AND DAD.
ITS BEEN REALY HARD FOR ME. 
I HAVE DREAMS OF ME AND PATRICK TALKING.
I MISS HIM ALOT.
I MISS U GUYS TOO I HOPE U AND BOB ARE DOING GOOD.
I AM SOORY LOVE U GUYS. 

DINO 
Close