LCpl. Patrick Adle, U.S.M.C (KIA)

On July 4th, Marine will be remembered

Bel Air, Md. — Soon after the news hit that Lance-Corporal Patrick Adle had been killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad on Tuesday, the electronic billboard outside Fallston High School was turned into a makeshift memorial.

A football, a few helium-filled balloons and several bouquets were left at the base of the sign, honouring a 21-year-old Marine described by his football coach as "an all-American kid." Handmade signs read "Fallen hero" and "We will always love you."

On the eve of the Fourth of July holiday, celebrating U.S. independence and all things American, this Baltimore suburb of neat homes, large churches and unending urban sprawl has been struck for the first time by the reality of the war in Iraq, a conflict that has claimed 635 U.S. combat dead since the official end of combat on May 1, 2003.

Although the community of Bel Air is unanimous in its sense of loss, there's a reticence to talk about the war and a deep division under the surface about the cause for which Cpl. Adle died

Dave Cesky, the young man's coach with the Fallston High Cougars, described himself as "very upset" at news. "Patrick was very positive all the time, always smiling," he said yesterday. "The thing that hit me the hardest is that Patrick is the same age as my son.

"This whole thing is very confusing to me. I just don't understand the whole concept anyway," Mr. Cesky said. "I just don't understand people who just kill and kill and kill, even the people who are there to help."

Bel Air and Harford County, in which it is located, used to be staunchly Democrat, but as the community has grown and become more prosperous, it has turned increasingly Republican. "They haven't voted for a Democrat for president since LBJ," according to Allan Vought, managing editor of the local newspaper, The Aegis.

A big nearby employer is the Aberdeen Proving Ground, an army base that tests explosives and ordnance, and the area is a favourite of retired members of the military. So it's not a town where you'll likely hear much open expression of anti-war sentiments.

"I can honestly tell you that people do not talk about the war," said Merrie Street, director of governmental and community relations for the county.

Ms. Street (who explained that her given name is short for America) is an unquestioning backer of the war and of the U.S. military. "Every night I go to bed and pray: 'Please protect those who protect us, especially our troops who are in harm's way, and bring them home safely,'." she said.

"My father was buried at Arlington National Cemetery and I couldn't be more proud. My mother was in the Coast Guard," she added.

Her son, Marc, is continuing the family tradition. A picture of an unsmiling young man in a Marine uniform sits beside her desk at the local county offices. Marc was a close friend of Cpl. Adle, and the two young men joined the Marine Reserves out of high school, although Marc has yet to be called to fight in Iraq.

"Mourning a Marine," was the headline in yesterday's Aegis, which included two full pages of reminiscences and photos of the young man, including a picture of his mother greeting her beaming son with a hug when he returned from an earlier tour of duty in Iraq.

"He believed in his country," his father, Mike Adle, told the paper. "He believed everything he was doing was for the best."

But an editorial in the paper was more questioning. "Regardless of how anyone feels about the conduct of the war in the Middle East or the war on terrorism, it's hard to argue that a lot of good hasn't come from the toppling of the Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein," the editorial said. "Defending that action on the ground has proven costly, as evidenced by the death of Mr. Adle and hundreds of other U.S. soldiers."

On the lush campus of Fallston High, two female gardeners took time from pulling weeds yesterday to talk about the war.

"We already got Saddam Hussein, so what's the sense of being there?" said Amanda, who would not give her surname.

"My thing is to go get bin Laden," added her co-worker, Ruth. "I don't understand the reasoning of why they went after Saddam."

Tomorrow Bel Air's annual Fourth of July celebration will take place as usual with a pancake breakfast, watermelon-eating contest, parade, concert and fireworks display. Cpl. Adle will be remembered with a minute of silence and a flypast by a helicopter squadron of the Maryland National Guard.

"I think it just strengthens my resolve," Ms. Street said of his death. "It's going to be a much more meaningful Fourth of July, at least for me."