California’s War Dead

James M. Ahearn, 43

Army, Major

Based: Ft. Bragg, N.C.

96th Civil Affairs Battalion, 95th Civil Affairs Brigade

Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom

Died: July 5, 2007

Baghdad (southern part), Iraq

Married, 1 child

Gender: Male

Hometown: Concord

High School: Clayton Valley High (Concord)

Burial: Arlington National Cemetery

I wish I could just sit all the Iraqi entities down in a room, pitch my plan to rid the place of Al Qaeda, and promise that the Americans will leave shortly thereafter -- or at least take up positions out in the desert on the Iranian border, which the average Iraqi wouldn't mind at all. I'll figure out the whole Iran thing later. I never realized saving the world was so damned hard.

— James M. Ahearn, one of his final messages home

During Baghdad duty in 2003, Ahearn, who spoke Arabic, met and fell in love with an Iraqi woman. He brought her to the U.S. in 2005, and they married and had a baby girl.