This past weekend I wandered into a couple government and political tents at the Rock County 4-H Fair. I coincidently found one of the County Supervisors in the Republican tent. He was very upbeat and encouraging when I mentioned I might run for County Board. He said you have to get you signatures in the winter (which I already know) and that people usually figure if you are trudging through the snow door-to-door in your district to get 50 signatures you might actually be serious. We talked quite a while about my work in Iraq and he seemed genuinely interested. 

   I found another Supervisor in the Law Enforcement tent where several Supervisors took turns meeting the public. I chatted with her about my Dad and his work on the Lima Township Board (Rock County). Dad was on that board in some capacity for what seemed like 20 years, culminating in being elected Town Chairman. 

   I will not mention these two Supervisors' names because I did not tell them I would put them in my blog posting. Suffice it to say then, that they were nice to a guy like me they did not know from Adam. 

   This week's Wisconsin soldier to remember is Army Specialist Michael McGlothin, 21 of Milwaukee who was killed by an improvised explosive device Saturday, April 14, 2004 while on patrol outside Baghdad, Iraq. Specialist McGlothin had been in Iraq for less than a month at the time of his death. Michael was a 2000 Pulaski High School graduate. Specialist McGlothin was the 17th Wisconsin service member killed in Iraq. He was the first casualty in the Iraq war from Milwaukee. He was a member of the Army's 115th Forward Support Battalion, Division Support Command, 1st Cavalry Division. The unit is based out of Fort Hood, Texas. Michael enlisted in the Army in January 2002. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, McGlothin enjoyed history and social studies classes in high school, and hunting and fishing in his free time. He also played the guitar. He attended Hartford Union High School for his freshman and sophomore years, then moved to Milwaukee, and transferred to Pulaski for his final two years of school.

   3,651 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003.

   26,953 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring 2003.

   78 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003.

   112 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring 2003.

Soldier of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; and, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.