Posted on 06/26/2005 4:45:36 AM PDT by coffee260
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's 29-year-old son has enlisted in the Army and will soon report for duty in the airborne infantry.
"It's been in the back of my mind for some time," Patrick Daley told the Chicago Sun-Times in Tuesday's editions. "I left West Point during my freshman year when I was 18 years old and always remembered their motto, 'Duty, Honor and Country.' But I was so young and not really old enough to understand what it really meant. But I know now."
Daley finished college at the University of Illinois and got a master's degree in business from the University of Chicago in June. He could have pursued lucrative job offers, but said the Sept. 11 attacks played a role in his decision to enlist.
"Dad is very supportive and Mom is doing just what mothers are supposed to do, worrying about her son," he said.
The mayor said Tuesday that he never tried to talk his son out of the move. His only advice: Stand by your decision.
"I'm very proud of the decision he made," he said. "He believes that [the military] is part of public service."
Asked about his own feelings toward the war in Iraq, the Democratic mayor said: "You stand by the president; you stand by the men and women of the military."
The younger Daley is starting out as an ordinary enlisted man.
"It's a close bet that I may make a career out of the military, and it's better to start out at the bottom," he said.
Daley will report for duty after Christmas and could be sent to Iraq or Afghanistan within a year. "Think of it. It's amazing. I get to serve my country," he said.
The elder Daley, first elected mayor in 1989, and his wife also have two daughters. A second son, Kevin, died in 1981 at age 3 of complications related to spina bifida. The mayor's late father, Richard J. Daley, was mayor for 21 years before his death in 1976.
God Bless You, Patrick Daley, We are proud of you and all those other men and women who serve our country during these trying times.
Your cause is just and noble and our country will be stronger because of men like you.
Hooah!
Every now and then its good to see that there are still some Dems who fit the Scoop Jackson & Sam Nunn mold.
never know, it might have taken him a while to calm down to the point that he would say his statement in politic-speak instead of the basic raw language people like my dad and myself and others on FR were using for it....
Maybe Daley's kid in the Airborne Infantry? Nice....
good luck...
I'd like to hear what Daley really said to Durbin personally ~ probably something along the lines of "@#$%@#$%M******F*****, and cut your guts out."
Daley has to face up to facts pretty soon, though, and that is that the Democratic party has moved on and left him behind. Durbin is the real vanguard.
I'll wager that Patrick Daley will opt for OCS after Basic and Airborne School. Of his own free will, or his C.O's.
Airborne has almost traditionally been light in officer rank. Whatever the case, I am proud of young Mr. Daley's decision.
Jack.
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