Where I Stand -- Mike O'Callaghan: A successful short life

Mike O'Callaghan is the Las Vegas Sun executive editor.

THE DEATH OF PFC. MATTHEW ALLEN COMMONS brought our war in Afghanistan home to Boulder City and Southern Nevada. This isn't the first time nor will it be the last time sad news arrives in Nevada towns. Our history has a long list of other young people from small towns who have given their lives in military service. Just take a look at the names of towns seldom in the news that show up after names of those killed, wounded or missing in action.

Las Vegas attorney Joe Foley reminds me that Boulder City's Murvyn Brannon was one of Nevada's first combat deaths of World War II. We can't forget that city's Michael Lewis Hyde, who died as a fighter pilot flying in support of infantry troops in Vietnam 35 years ago.

So is Matthew Commons somebody special? You bet he is a special person who left behind a legacy of love and warmth. The recollection of his former Boulder City High School classmates and teachers tells us the story of a young man who all of us would want as a friend and neighbor. Deep inside he had the fire needed to be the best and showed he had the right stuff by becoming an Army Ranger.

Close ground combat is an exciting affair where individuals are especially important to their squad, platoon or fire team. They come to know each other better than they knew many of their classmates and family members. Life and death situations bring out the strengths and weaknesses of individuals quickly and decisively. Big city boys, country boys and small town boys become men in short order. This change creates bonds that last for a lifetime, and memories about those who died linger for generations with the men fortunate enough to live and return home.

When combat veterans of small units gather they usually spend more time talking about those who died than about the men who lived. Men who die in combat always have a special place in the hearts of their comrades. Every grave in a military cemetery holds the remains of a special person who met a challenge in life when courage was needed the most.

Decades after the sounds of war have faded, combat veterans talk about what could have been if one in their unit had lived. Some days just having a cold drink in the summer heat reminds a veteran of the time he and his unit rested for a sip of warm water from their canteens before scaling a cliff to engage a waiting enemy. That was the last drink taken by a gunner who early in the day had been thrilled to hear from his kid sister. She told him about a school essay that received an A grade. He, her big brother, had been the subject of the essay.

I didn't have the opportunity to know Boulder City's Matt Commons. Those who knew and loved him are most fortunate and will probably always wonder what would have been his future if he hadn't died. They will never know because his life was cut short doing what he had been trained to do. He undertook that training to be the best and he accomplished that goal. So his life was short but he achieved success. He left behind those who will continue to struggle for, and may never reach, his level of achievement.

I appreciated how his government teacher, Lynn Stewart, remembered him. "He wasn't a flashy kid. Just solid, a decent kid. He did what he was supposed to do," Stewart told Sun reporter Jeff Libby.

Ranger Matthew Commons died doing what he considered was his job. We can all be thankful that our nation continues to produce citizens who do what they are supposed to do.

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