Who was Casey Sheehan?

For the herd of independent minds in the mass media, the Cindy Sheehan storyline is set in stone: bereaved mom of dead soldier turns on foolish president, updates at 11. Media accounts almost invariably say that Specialist Sheehan "was killed in Iraq," or he "died in Iraq," without mentioning the Mahdi Army, the gang of thugs who killed him.

The Mahdi Army is led by dimwit cleric Moqtada "Mookie" al Sadr, and they have few principles beyond hatred of America, the state of Israel, any Muslim whose theology varies from their own, the use of soap, etc. Last year, they tried to take over Baghdad, with the goal of seizing the southern half of Iraq.

If the Mahdi Army had gained power, they promised to institute the full Mookie: everyone would have been oppressed with an uncompromising version of Sharia law, and Iranian despots would have had a large say in Iraq's internal affairs — that is, if Iraq continued to exist. This is a group of (ahem) individuals who are not excessively devoted to the natural moral law.

Had it not been for men like Casey Sheehan, the Mahdi Army would have at least carved out a terrorist enclave for themselves, much as the jihadis established Fallujah as their home base around the same time. Dozens of American soldiers like Specialist Sheehan died while defending the populace of Iraq.

You could read all of that by trolling through news accounts. But who was Casey Sheehan, the man? That's not as well-known. His mother carries his 8x10 portrait to protest rallies, in a twisted parody of a religious procession, as if she is carrying a saint's icon that she intends to use as a weapon.

But that belittles the flesh-and-blood Casey Sheehan, who could well be a saint. He was an altar boy as a youth, and served as a eucharistic minister for his fellow soldiers. On the day he died, he went to Mass, and when he got back he heard that the Mahdi Army had trapped a group of soldiers and were slowly picking them off, one by one. Specialist Sheehan volunteered to help rescue them.

He didn't have to go. He was a mechanic, and nobody ordered him on the mission. But he insisted on helping his comrades. Fanatic thugs ambushed his vehicle and murdered him and another soldier, Corporal Forest J. Jostes.

Specialist Sheehan and six other soldiers died that day, Palm Sunday, 2004. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star for battlefield valor.

His mother basks in the attention she would not receive if she were just another crank with no dead son. I pray that Casey Sheehan is basking in the pleasures of heaven, a well-deserved reward for his Christ-like desire to place others' lives before his own.

(Read a short biography of Casey Sheehan here.)