An Officer Is Remembered

Yesterday I drove down Route 1A for the funeral of Lieutenant Andrew Bacevich at St. Timothy’s Church. I described the scene in my New York Sun column. “Mourners sang “America the Beautiful” as pall bearers wheeled the casket carrying First Lieutenant Andrew Bacevich out of St. Timothy’s Church in Norwood, Mass., yesterday. Before exiting into the bright May sunshine and the sight of the soothing waters of Willett’s Pond, they paused and draped an American flag over the coffin.”

I’ve known Lt. Bacevich’s father, Boston University professor Andrew Bacevich, since 1998 when he helped author a study with Eliot Cohen about the possibility that Israel would eliminate universal service — one of the foundations of its civil society. While he once worked with Cohen, now an aide to Condoleezza Rice at the Department of State, Professor Bacevich is an independent thinker and an opponent of the Iraq War. But, as Jules Crittenden wrote in a moving piece in The Boston Herald, yesterday belonged to the professor’s son.

The younger Bacevich graduated with a degree in communications from Boston University and worked for Governor Romney. A patriot, he believed he had to give more to his country. Instead of working on a presidential campaign, Bacevich gave his life in Iraq.

Contributions can be sent to the First Lieutenant Andrew John Bacevich Memorial Fund at Boston University, Office of Development, Boston University, 1 Sherborn St., Boston, MA 02215.