2d war death worsens grief in Mashpee

Paul E. Conlon, a 2005 Mashpee High School graduate, was killed last Friday in a roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan.

When he was injured in the arm by flying shrapnel in June, Army Private First Class Paul E. Conlon of Mashpee received the Purple Heart and could have come home from his post in Afghanistan for rest and recovery, his family said. He decided to stay.

"Mom you don't understand what they do to women and children here," he told his mother, Maria Conlon, 43, of Somerville. "I'm here with my brothers. They will take care of me and I will take care of them."

Barely a day after Mashpee started to come to terms with the loss of one of its sons, news came that a second young man was killed in fighting overseas.

Conlon, 21, a 2005 Mashpee High School graduate, was killed Friday in a roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan while riding in a Humvee, his family said yesterday. On Thursday, Marine Private First Class Daniel McGuire was killed during a security patrol in Fallujah, Iraq. McGuire, 19, joined the Marine Corps shortly after graduating Mashpee High in 2007. Both were described as having an unwavering sense of duty and patriotism.

News of the second death in as many days spread fast through the small Cape Cod community's residents who were stunned by more tragic news.

"It's very shocking. I'm still trying to comprehend and grasp the fact that we lost such a great young gentleman, and now to hear that there's a second; it just doesn't seem possible that a town should have to endure such a thing," said John J. Cahalane, chairman of the Mashpee Board of Selectmen.

"It's devastating. It's hard to believe these young men are not going to be coming back," said Terrie Cook, a Mashpee selectwoman.

Cook said the town would do everything possible to support the family members, friends, and community members touched by these deaths.

Conlon is the third person from Mashpee killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Last August, Alicia A. Birchett, 29, a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, was killed after she was pinned by a truck while changing its tire in Baghdad.

Conlon's family gathered in mourning last night at a relative's home in Sandwich.

"He's my baby. He was my youngest. He's never going to come home. But he was where he meant to be doing what he was meant to do and doing what he truly believed was necessary," said Conlon's mother, Maria.

When he put his mind to something, there was simply no stopping him, and he wanted to be a soldier since he was 12, his family said. Above all, Conlon was headstrong.

"He doesn't have a personality. He has a Paul-ality," said his aunt, Victoria Baron, 24, of Sandwich. She was the last in the family to talk to Paul Thursday night. "We talked about the reports that they found Big Foot. He was really excited about that."

Paul's "Paul-ality" knew seemingly no bounds. Family members recalled mohawks and "Flock of Seagulls" hairdos, studded belts and wacky clothes, and a fierce loyalty to his friends and family.

"He did everything that he did to prove that it didn't matter who you were or what you wore or who you talked to," Baron said.

"And he was no angel either," his mother said recalling old fights and arguments with a laugh. Paul was offered a scholarship from Franklin Pierce University in New Hampshire but turned it down to enlist in the Marines. He got sick at boot camp and was not allowed to finish his training. So, he spent a year recovering before enlisting in the Army.

Maria Conlon said she didn't like the idea of her son in the military, Army or Marines, but she finally let him go, with her blessing.

At Mashpee High, Conlon was remembered as a popular, creative student.

"You couldn't help but embrace and love him," said Pat Farrell, Conlon's guidance counselor, speaking through the high school principal. Farrell told the principal that Conlon won a contest in 2004 by designing the best poster and program cover for the school's spring musical, "Footloose."

Mashpee High School will open tomorrow from noon to 6 p.m. to allow family, friends, and residents touched by both losses to mourn. Grief counselors will be on hand.

The school's new principal, Alan Winrow, who started in July, was at a loss for words.

"It's upsetting, but it lets us know that the Mashpee has the type of person who is willing to defend our country and give the ultimate sacrifice."