Christopher Hitchens writes about an American hero: Army 2nd Lt. Mark Daily

If you don’t read anything else this weekend, please do read this piece by Christopher Hitchens where he talks about the life of Army 2nd Lt. Mark Daily, who was killed by an IED explosion in Mosul in January.

Hitchens found out earlier this year that some of his writings on the Iraq war inspired Daily to join the military, so he could serve in Iraq. Here’s an excerpt:

I was having an oppressively normal morning a few months ago, flicking through the banality of quotidian e-mail traffic, when I idly clicked on a message from a friend headed “Seen This?” The attached item turned out to be a very well-written story by Teresa Watanabe of the Los Angeles Times. It described the death, in Mosul, Iraq, of a young soldier from Irvine, California, named Mark Jennings Daily, and the unusual degree of emotion that his community was undergoing as a consequence. The emotion derived from a very moving statement that the boy had left behind, stating his reasons for having become a volunteer and bravely facing the prospect that his words might have to be read posthumously. In a way, the story was almost too perfect: this handsome lad had been born on the Fourth of July, was a registered Democrat and self-described agnostic, a U.C.L.A. honors graduate, and during his college days had fairly decided reservations about the war in Iraq. I read on, and actually printed the story out, and was turning a page when I saw the following:

“Somewhere along the way, he changed his mind. His family says there was no epiphany. Writings by author and columnist Christopher Hitchens on the moral case for war deeply influenced him … “

Keep some tissues handy when you read the rest. You’re going to need them.

Here’s that LA Times article Hitchens is referring to. On that page are links to his essay on why he joined, emails from him that his family gave the LAT permission to publish, and a photo gallery.

RIP, 2nd Lt. Mark Daily. You will never be forgotten.