Honoring a Fallen Hero

A family strives to keep their loved one’s memory alive.

McHugh Family Portrait: John McHugh surrounded by his loved ones. Back row, from left: Angela (son Michael’s wife), Michael, and John’s daughters Kristen and Kelly. Front row: daughter Maggie, wife Connie, John and son David. In front is the family dog, Cobie.
Photo courtesy of the Mchugh family.

It’s easy to whine about life’s little annoyances. Then you hear a story that puts things in their proper perspective. This is one of those stories.

John McHugh was an Army colonel, a loving husband, the proud father of five, a grandfather, son and brother. On May 18, 2010, McHugh was killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan. The West Caldwell native was 46. He also served in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm.

More than 1,000 people attended McHugh’s memorial service at St. Aloysius Church in Caldwell. His older brother, Jim, delivered the eulogy for the fallen hero and has dedicated much of his time to keeping John’s memory alive. Currently, he is working with the Honor and Remember Foundation to get government approval for an Honor and Remember flag to be presented to families that have lost a loved one in battle. Meanwhile, John’s eldest daughter, Kelly, a graduate of Kansas State University, is collecting stories from family members for a book about her father. The book will include interviews with McHugh’s classmates and soccer teammates at West Point, where he still holds the record for the most saves by a goaltender.

I spoke with Jim McHugh about his hero brother, one of the highest ranking U.S. officers to die in Afghanistan.

Steve Adubato: Do you know the details of John’s final day?
Jim McHugh: John was stationed out of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, the battle command and prep center. He made numerous trips to Afghanistan to observe conditions on the ground so the training in the U.S. could be adjusted as necessary. In May 2010, he arrived in Kabul. Typically, he would fly from Kabul airport to headquarters at Bagram Airfield. However, a couple of days before his arrival, the Bagram airfields were bombed and were no longer accessible. Therefore, John and his companions had to convoy from the Kabul airport. As they were headed to the base, a suicide bomber saw the convoy, drove up next to them and set off about 2,000 pounds of explosives. My brother and four other U.S. soldiers were killed, along with a Canadian military officer and 12 Afghan civilians.

SA: Why is it so important to continue to tell John’s story?
JM: As the United States is involved in a conflict that spans over 10 or 12 years, we become desensitized to the headlines. We read a story and hear that a couple servicemen were killed and think, that’s a shame, but we really don’t stop and think about what is behind that story. It is a real family…. His son Michael, also in the Army, was deployed in Baghdad at the time of his father’s passing. So I want people to remember there is a real family behind these headlines.

SA: What should we know about your brother?
JM:
John was really steeped in three things. Family—family came first in everything. Faith—he had a tremendous faith in God. And he loved the United States of America.

SA: How do families find help after such a loss?

JM: There are organizations out there that fight every day to not forget the fallen. American Gold Star Mothers is just one of them that provides resources and support services. They sponsor a fund-raiser in September every year, called the NJ Run for the Fallen, where they have servicemen from each branch of the service run from Cape May to the Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial at the PNC Bank Arts Center.

SA: Tell us about your work with the Honor and Remember project.
JM: Our goal is to get the Honor and Remember flag into the hands of every family who has ever lost a family member in any battle or war. Right now, whenever I learn of someone in my area that has lost a loved one in war, I personally present a flag to that family on behalf of the McHugh family.

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