IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 845-07
July 8, 2007

DoD Identifies Army Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died July 5, 2007, when their vehicle struck an improvised explosive device in Baghdad, Iraq. They were assigned to 96th Civil Affairs Battalion, 95th Civil Affairs Brigade, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Killed were:
 Major James M. Ahearn, 43, of California
 Sergeant Keith A. Kline, 24, of Oak Harbor, Ohio

For more information, media may contact the USASOC public affairs office at (910) 432-6005.

Her mother warned her: A soldier’s business is war. There is no safety. There are no guarantees.

But the Iraqi daughter loved the American officer.

And so, in 2005 — two years after they met in Iraq — she left her country to move to his and become his wife.

And on Thursday — four years after her mother’s warning — Lena Ahearn became a widow.

Her husband, Major James Michael Ahearn, 43, was killed in Baghdad when his vehicle struck a roadside bomb. Sergeant Keith A. Kline, 24, of Oak Harbor, Ohio, was also killed in the attack.

“Jimmy was the greatest gift I ever had,” Lena said Sunday from the couple’s home in Raeford. “I will never regret marrying him for two years and moving to the United States.”

Ahearn, who had served in the Army for 18 years, and Kline were assigned to the 96th Civil Affairs Battalion, 95th Civil Affairs Brigade at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

This was Ahearn’s third time in Iraq.

It was during the second tour that he met Lena. She loved the way he looked in his uniform and the way he used his own money to buy toys for Iraqi children.

When they married, Ahearn offered to convert to Islam for his bride.

“I only want you to convert if you believe in it,” Lena told him.

He did.

And he used that belief to try to bridge the cultural gap between American soldiers and the Iraqi people on his third tour of Iraq.

“He told them there are no differences between people,” Lena said.

But his message of tolerance did not reach everyone. And Lena said she is ashamed, knowing her husband died in her country at the hands of her people.

She told the casualty assistance officers that came to her home Thursday to tell her of her husband’s death that she wanted to become an American citizen.

It would have made him proud.

“He was the strongest and bravest man I ever saw in my life,” she said.

And one of the most sentimental. When he was home, Ahearn bought Lena a card, a flower and a doughnut every Sunday morning.

And on the rare occasion he forgot to buy a card, he’d hang a love note on the refrigerator or hide one in the kitchen cabinet.

Lena got her last love note in March, just before Ahearn left for Iraq. He was scheduled to return in September and to retire from the Army in 2009.

Before he left, he said one of his greatest fears was that his 17-month-old daughter, Kadi, wouldn’t recognize him when he returned.

“He was afraid always that she would forget him,” Lena said. “I hope she does not.”

The 96th Civil Affairs Battalion held a memorial for Major James M. Ahearn and Sergeant Keith A. Kline this morning at the John F. Kennedy Memorial Chapel on Fort Bragg.

Ahearn, 43, and Kline, 24 were killed in Baghdad July 5, 2007, when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb.

Both men were assigned to Company B, 96th Civil Affairs Battalion, 95th Civil Affairs Brigade.

About 300 people filled the chapel. Another 100 soldiers and friends sat under a small tent in the parking lot and watched the service on three flat-screen TVs.

Both soldier’s boots, M-4 rifles, dog tags and helmets were displayed at the front of the chapel. They were flanked by the American flag and battalion colors.

“It is humbling to have soldiers with such courage and character serving in the ranks of the 95th Civil Affairs Brigade,” said Coloenl Ferdinand Irizarry, commander of the brigade. “Major Ahearn and Sergeant Kline were microcosm of all that is good about America. They don’t come any better.”

Funeral services are scheduled for Wednesday for a local soldier killed in Iraq.

Major James Ahearn, a Special Operations soldier at Fort Bragg, is being buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

Ahearn died earlier this month in a roadside bombing.

Ahearn's widow is an Iraqi woman who now lives in Cumberland County. They met a couple of years ago in Baghdad and have daughter.