ANOTHER OF OUR OWN

A 35-year-old township native who joined the Army five years ago to find himself and lately only wanted to come home for a backyard barbecue with his loved ones is among the latest soldiers killed in Iraq.

Spc. William J. Maher III died Monday when his Humvee vehicle, traveling in a convoy, was rocked by a homemade bomb dropped from a highway overpass in central Baghdad.

His battalion, which is in the 36th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Armored Division, is training new Iraqi policemen, Maher's family said last night...

Billy Maher was the one who made their family proud and was their living symbol of patriotism.

"I love America, and I love Americana," Kelly Massimini said of the dozens of collectibles that dot her town house. But her other brother, 33-year-old Bryan, said it best in a letter to Maher III recently.

"I'm proud to be an American. My brother is in the U.S. Army, and I can't wait to shake a veteran's hand," Kelly said, reading a passage of the letter to Billy, who was so moved by his brother's words that he wrote them to Kelly.

Please pray.