Posted on 08/20/2006 12:11:02 AM PDT by a_dem_no_more
CLIFTON PARK -- A State Trooper from Clifton Park who took on a second tour of duty in Iraq because he wanted ``to be with his men'' was killed during a fire fight outside of the Iraqi city of Fallujah Wednesday.
Marine Capt. John J. McKenna IV, 30, was killed alongside one of his men, Marine Lance Corporal Michael Glover of New York City. Both were with the 2nd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Division, Fox Company.
Family members said McKenna may have been rescuing or taking over Glover's position when he was shot by a sniper and killed.
KcKenna, a patrol trooper for Troop F in Kingston was recently called up for his second tour. He had previously done tours in Afghanistan and Iraq between June 1998 and August 2003, when he joined the police academy, graduating in August 2005.
McKenna lived with his sister, Allyson Zehrfuhs, and her husband, David, on Reed Lane in Cliton Park. He was stationed with the Marine Reserves center at Washington and North Main avenues in Albany, his family said.
``We were tentative about him going over there again but it was important to him to be with his men and see that they were safe,'' Zehrfuhs said. ``Our family is devasted. There is really no way to describe this pain.''
McKenna's parents John McKenna III and Karen McKenna live in Brooklyn and were in the process of moving to Clifton Park to be close to their children.
``My dad was in Brooklyn when the Marines visited with the news. Then they drove him up here to break it to us,'' Allyson said. ``My mother is devasted and has not eaten since she heard the news.''
McKenna, who was not married and had no children, always wanted to be a Marine and a trooper, his family said.
His mother urged him to attend State University at Binghamton, where he received a degree in history so he could get into officers school, Allyson said.
The family said services will be in Brooklyn and are pending. Burial is planned for the Saratoga National Cemetery.
``He was the best godfather to our three-year-old daughter Michaela,'' Allyson said. ``He actually got leave, got off the plane and drove all the way up to be here when she was born.''
God bless this good young man. He is guarding the streets of Heaven tonight...
Condolences to family and friends of John J. McKenna IV and Michael Glover.
RIP, hero.
Thank you so much for posting this news. Clifton Park is 20 minutes from my home town, and I still have friends from there who are overseas in Iraq. May this brave hero rest in peace and be an example to all those who cherish freedom and the price some must pay to preserve it.
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