Free Republic

When he was confirmed, Thomas Doerflinger took the name of St. Maximilian Kolbe, who was martyred at Auschwitz. Doing so proved prophetic. In 1941, a monk named Maximilian Kolbe volunteered to take the place of another condemned prisoner at Auschwitz. Six decades later, a young man serving in Iraq—a soldier inspired by Father Kolbe—sacrificed his life when he volunteered to take the place of another soldier. The story of this heroic young man—the son of a dear friend of ours in Prison Fellowship—is one we should tell our children as we mark the sixtieth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz...

                                                                    November 12, 2004 Dear Diocesan Pro-Life Directors and         Directors of State Catholic Conferences,             I am very sorry to have to tell you that yesterday Richard Doerflinger, Deputy Director of the Pro-Life Secretariat, and his wife Lee Ann, learned that their young son Thomas had been killed in Iraq.    Thomas was serving in the Army and had been sent to Iraq about two weeks ago.  According to news reports, he was killed by small arms fire during combat in Mosul.             Today, Msgr. William Fay, General Secretary of the bishops' conference, will offer Mass for Thomas and all of the Doerflinger family.   ...