killed in attack
near Najaf
Army corporal
killed in attack
near Najaf
By kathy baratta
Staff Writer
Cpl. Michael Curtin
The war in Iraq came home to Howell on Monday with the news that township resident Army Cpl. Michael Curtin, 23, was one of four American soldiers killed on March 29 by the first reported suicide bombing of the war.
Curtin, who was with the U.S. Army 3rd Infantry Divis-ion, was killed along with three other soldiers who approached their disguised killer with the intention of coming to his aid.
According to information provided by the Army, an Iraqi army officer disguised as a taxi driver had deceived the four American soldiers into believing he needed their help and then detonated his cab full of explosives when Curtin and his fellow soldiers drew close enough to the vehicle at the U.S. checkpoint near Najaf, Iraq.
Curtin, a 1998 graduate of How-ell High School, is survived by his parents, a brother and three sisters. He is the first soldier from the Jersey Shore area to be reported killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom, which began March 19.
VERONICA YANKOWSKI Katie Curtin (l-r), Karen Thompson and John Curtin, relatives of Army Cpl. Michael Curtin, 23, of Howell, who was killed in Iraq on Saturday, prepare to meet members of the media on Monday.
In a statement released over the weekend by the family through Fort Monmouth Public Affairs spokesman Henry Kearney, the Curtin family said, "Our family is deeply saddened and our hearts are heavy at this time. Our son, Michael, was a kind and courageous young man. Although he was with us but a short time, he displayed tremendous bravery, unwavering faith and a devout love for his family.
"We are extremely proud of his patriotism and service to his country. He was fighting for our freedom which we should never take for granted. He was a hero in our eyes. Our hearts and prayers go out to the other servicemen who were killed and their families."
On Monday afternoon, Curtin’s sister, Katie, joined her aunt, Karen Thompson, of Bridgewater, and uncle, John Curtin, of Howell, outside the family home in Howell in front of a tree Katie had festooned with a large yellow ribbon the day the war started.
John Curtin said he and his sister were there to represent his brother and his wife who were too distraught to talk with reporters.
PHOTOS BY VERONICA YANKOWSKI John Curtin hugs his niece, Katie, after a press conference on Monday at which family members remembered Katie’s brother, Michael, who was killed in action in Iraq on March 29.
"His parents are having a hard time, Michael was their best friend," Curtin said.
Responding to a reporter’s question on Michael’s motivation for joining the army two years ago, Curtin opined that as his nephew had been attending a civilian school at the Lakehurst military base in Ocean County to study tool and die making and several instructors there were former military personnel, he thought it possible that association may have inspired Michael to enter military service.
Curtin spoke lovingly of the nephew he knew and who, he said, used to work for him in his automotive business.
"If you could have your choice of who to mold yourself as a person, he’d be the person you’d want to be," he said.
Photo shows Army Cpl. Michael Curtin of Howell, who was one of four American soldiers killed by a suicide bomber near Najaf, Iraq, on March 29.
Noting that Michael was the oldest of five siblings, Thompson told reporters Michael had been a role model for them all.
Thompson said the family last got to speak with Michael on Valentine’s Day when he was able to call from Kuwait. She said all family members agreed that Michael had sounded very upbeat and completely committed to the mission ahead and very proud of what he and his fellow soldiers were doing.
"The family finds comfort from knowing he believed in what he was doing," she said, adding that despite their bitter loss, the family is still in "complete support of all our troops and their families."
Thompson spoke of Michael and his anticipation and appreciation for the family’s "care packages" and of how Michael would always ask that extra goods also be sent for his fellow soldiers.
Searching for the right words at a time of deep sorrow, Katie Curtin (l) and Karen Thompson speak with members of the media who converged on Howell following the death of American soldier Michael Curtin in Iraq.
With a pained smile she noted, "baby wipes and Chap-sticks were big items." Thompson said family members would normally also send magazines, yo-yo’s and video games.
Thompson said there was a constant flow of mail and packages from all family members to Curtin.
Thompson said the family wanted to thank their neighbors, many of whom had sent food, and school personnel and members of the police department who reached out to the family since the news of their loss was made public.
Asked what she wanted people to know about her brother, Katie Curtin, 20, told reporters, "everything about Michael was special."
Carrying a picture of Michael holding her infant daughter Kayla, Katie said he had been a loving brother and a doting uncle. Before being overcome with emotion, Katie said she had put the yellow ribbon around the big tree on the front lawn, "as a show of support and so Mike would come home safe."
Curtin played football at Howell High School for Coach Cory Davies, who on Monday recalled him as a dedicated team player.
"He was the kind of young man every football coach wants," Davies said. "He was always at practice, understood discipline, worked hard and always had a smile on his face."
Curtin was not a starter at Howell, but he nevertheless gave as much to the team as if he had been. That impressed Davies as much as anything.
"He was a very nice young man, one of those guys who gave 100 percent," the coach said. "He knew his role and worked very hard."
After returning from a visit to the family’s home where she went to offer condolences, Howell High School Principal Barbara McMorrow told a Tri-Town News reporter the school had been fielding calls all day from former students and teachers; all wanting to know if the news reported about Curtin was true.
McMorrow said Michael was being very well remembered by all those calling to inquire and many more still on staff and attending school.
"His loss is being felt throughout the school and beyond," the principal said. "He touched so many lives and his brother and sister still attend here. Everyone is saddened by the loss."
McMorrow said students at the high school wanted to hold an impromptu memorial for Curtin. She said she advised them that for now, everyone should wait until the family has worked sufficiently through their grief to be able to give direction for any service or ceremony honoring Curtin.
According to Kearney, Curtin joined the military in May 2001 and completed basic training at Fort Benning, Ga. He had been based at Fort Stewart, Ga., and was deployed to Kuwait on Jan. 25. Kearney said Curtin was a graduate of Army paratrooper training school and had received several medals. According to Kearney, the Curtin family received the news of Michael’s death from a uniformed army officer from Fort Monmouth on Saturday at about 5 p.m.
Kearney said the family’s last communication from Michael had come in a letter received about two weeks ago.
Along with his sister Katie, Curtin is survived by his mother and father, Joan and Michael Curtin; brother, Dan, 17, and sisters, Jennifer, 15, and Stephanie, 12; and his niece, Kayla.
Stephanie had recently written a poem about her brother:
"My Brother"
My brother is the one who is kind and polite. He is the one who is willing to fight.
My brother is strong and brave as could be. I know that he will always succeed.
My brother is willing to risk his life, every hour day and night.
I want everyone to know how lucky I am, to have such a great brother, and such a great friend!
Howell Mayor Timothy J. Konopka, a retired army intelligence officer, said he spoke with Curtin’s mother and told her how proud the Howell community was of her son.
"Understanding her profound loss, I told her to draw comfort in knowing her son was not only a hero to her and those who knew and loved him, but to all of his fellow countrymen," the mayor said.
Noting that the murder-suicide that took the lives of Curtin and three other soldiers was the latest in a line of perfidious acts that include Iraqi army officers disguising themselves as civilians or feigning surrender, Konopka said, "the acts of these cowards" would only serve to further bolster the morale of not only coalition soldiers, but community support back home.
"I told his mother that her son did not die in vain. His was an honorable death in the face of utter treachery," the mayor said.
Konopka said Curtin and the others were "literally killed while trying to give aid to someone they believed was in distress and needed their help. Together, they showed the world the character and caliber of our young people fighting this war."
Flags in the community will fly at half-staff in Curtin’s honor this week.
Greater Media Newspapers staff writer Tim Morris contributed to this story.