Posted By: Don Cardi
New 2nd Lt. is son of firefighter killed on 9/11 - 01/11/07 04:56 PM
New 2nd Lt. is son of firefighter killed on 9/11
President Bush addressed the nation on Iraq just as one of the reasons he believes we can win with more troops was completing a journey from Queens to Texas.
That reason is 23-year-old Patrick Dowdell, and he was on his way yesterday to report for duty as a newly commissioned second lieutenant in the United States Army. He was outside Dallas, driving south on Interstate 35 when Bush came on the radio.
Dowdell already lost his father at the World Trade Center, and many of us who adore him hoped the fighting in Iraq would be over before he finished West Point. The war was going from bad to worse as Bush delivered the commencement to Dowdell's graduating class back in May.
"I have confidence in the the final outcome of this struggle because I know the character and determination of the men and women gathered before me," Bush said that day. "We see that character and determination in a cadet named Patrick Dowdell."
Bush recounted how FDNY Lt. Kevin Dowdell had been helping his son with his application to West Point on the days before 9/11. Bush also spoke of how Patrick Dowdell had spent day after day with his father's surviving comrades down in the fiery ruins.
"Looking, looking for his dad - and thinking about the dream that they had shared about his future," Bush said.
The son had played a solo "Amazing Grace" on the bagpipes at the father's funeral, his fingers steady, the notes unwavering in the face of his enormous loss. He proceeded just that way through the academy.
On meeting Dowdell at the graduation, Bush could only have felt all the more sure that such manifestly magnificent young soldiers must necessarily prevail. Bush mentioned him and cited his mother in particular in another speech four months later, as the war was going from worse to even worse.
That address to the nation marked the fifth anniversary of 9/11. Bush spoke of Rose Ellen Dowdell and her son Patrick and her younger boy James, who has followed his father into the FDNY.
The mother accompanied Patrick as he left the family's home in Queens yesterday morning and flew to Dallas. They caught a connecting flight to Oklahoma, where Patrick had done specialized training. They set off in his truck for Fort Hood in Texas.
As the time neared for Bush to unveil his new strategy, the Dowdells were on I-35, still two hours away from Fort Hood. Patrick checked the AM radio stations until he found a station planning to broadcast the speech.
"As long as I don't lose the signal, I'll listen," he said.
At 8 p.m. Texas time, the truck's cab filled with the voice of a President once more seeking to connect 9/11 and the war in Iraq. Bush said we can still succeed in Iraq if we commit more than 20,000 more of our finest Americans.
He did not mention the Dowdells this time, but one thing nobody could dispute was what he said about those who place themselves in harm's way:
"In these dangerous times, the United States is blessed to have extraordinary and selfless men and women willing to step forward and defend us."
Dowdell already had a clear position, no matter what new strategies Bush announced.
"He's the commander in chief," Dowdell said. "Do what he says."
Dowdell did not need some reporter pressing him for a personal opinion regarding his commander in chief's plan to prevail in a war many of us in New York believe is unwinnable. He does need our prayers and support, whatever we think about Iraq.
Today, Patrick Dowdell will report to the 4th Infantry Division. He is not entirely sure what he will be doing.
"I've never done this before," he said.
The unit only recently returned from Iraq, having suffered 135 fatalities, including such magnificent soldiers as 38-year-old Sgt. Bobby Mendez of Brooklyn, 23-year-old Sgt. Jose Gomez of Queens and 20-year-old Collin Mason of Staten Island.
Even with the Bush strategy, the 4th I.D. does not expect to go back to Iraq in the immediate future. But the unit can expect to return before there is a new commander in chief to obey.
"I'll go with them the next time," Dowdell said.
Originally published on January 11, 2007
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Not posting this article with any political intentions or looking to promote or dis the war, but I just wanted to share with those interested that this young man and his brother both worked for me before they went onto West point and the Fire Department respectively. Two very good hard working and respectful kids who have both grown up into two men that their father would have been very proud of.
Their father was a really honorable and decent man.
Don Cardi
President Bush addressed the nation on Iraq just as one of the reasons he believes we can win with more troops was completing a journey from Queens to Texas.
That reason is 23-year-old Patrick Dowdell, and he was on his way yesterday to report for duty as a newly commissioned second lieutenant in the United States Army. He was outside Dallas, driving south on Interstate 35 when Bush came on the radio.
Dowdell already lost his father at the World Trade Center, and many of us who adore him hoped the fighting in Iraq would be over before he finished West Point. The war was going from bad to worse as Bush delivered the commencement to Dowdell's graduating class back in May.
"I have confidence in the the final outcome of this struggle because I know the character and determination of the men and women gathered before me," Bush said that day. "We see that character and determination in a cadet named Patrick Dowdell."
Bush recounted how FDNY Lt. Kevin Dowdell had been helping his son with his application to West Point on the days before 9/11. Bush also spoke of how Patrick Dowdell had spent day after day with his father's surviving comrades down in the fiery ruins.
"Looking, looking for his dad - and thinking about the dream that they had shared about his future," Bush said.
The son had played a solo "Amazing Grace" on the bagpipes at the father's funeral, his fingers steady, the notes unwavering in the face of his enormous loss. He proceeded just that way through the academy.
On meeting Dowdell at the graduation, Bush could only have felt all the more sure that such manifestly magnificent young soldiers must necessarily prevail. Bush mentioned him and cited his mother in particular in another speech four months later, as the war was going from worse to even worse.
That address to the nation marked the fifth anniversary of 9/11. Bush spoke of Rose Ellen Dowdell and her son Patrick and her younger boy James, who has followed his father into the FDNY.
The mother accompanied Patrick as he left the family's home in Queens yesterday morning and flew to Dallas. They caught a connecting flight to Oklahoma, where Patrick had done specialized training. They set off in his truck for Fort Hood in Texas.
As the time neared for Bush to unveil his new strategy, the Dowdells were on I-35, still two hours away from Fort Hood. Patrick checked the AM radio stations until he found a station planning to broadcast the speech.
"As long as I don't lose the signal, I'll listen," he said.
At 8 p.m. Texas time, the truck's cab filled with the voice of a President once more seeking to connect 9/11 and the war in Iraq. Bush said we can still succeed in Iraq if we commit more than 20,000 more of our finest Americans.
He did not mention the Dowdells this time, but one thing nobody could dispute was what he said about those who place themselves in harm's way:
"In these dangerous times, the United States is blessed to have extraordinary and selfless men and women willing to step forward and defend us."
Dowdell already had a clear position, no matter what new strategies Bush announced.
"He's the commander in chief," Dowdell said. "Do what he says."
Dowdell did not need some reporter pressing him for a personal opinion regarding his commander in chief's plan to prevail in a war many of us in New York believe is unwinnable. He does need our prayers and support, whatever we think about Iraq.
Today, Patrick Dowdell will report to the 4th Infantry Division. He is not entirely sure what he will be doing.
"I've never done this before," he said.
The unit only recently returned from Iraq, having suffered 135 fatalities, including such magnificent soldiers as 38-year-old Sgt. Bobby Mendez of Brooklyn, 23-year-old Sgt. Jose Gomez of Queens and 20-year-old Collin Mason of Staten Island.
Even with the Bush strategy, the 4th I.D. does not expect to go back to Iraq in the immediate future. But the unit can expect to return before there is a new commander in chief to obey.
"I'll go with them the next time," Dowdell said.
Originally published on January 11, 2007
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Not posting this article with any political intentions or looking to promote or dis the war, but I just wanted to share with those interested that this young man and his brother both worked for me before they went onto West point and the Fire Department respectively. Two very good hard working and respectful kids who have both grown up into two men that their father would have been very proud of.
Their father was a really honorable and decent man.
Don Cardi