John Murtha Biography
John Murtha, an American politician, was born John Patrick Murtha, Jr. on 17 June 1932. He was from an Irish American family living in New Martinsville, West Virginia, which is along the border of Ohio and Pennsylvania. However, Murtha grew up in Westmoreland County of Pennsylvania. As a youngster, he was an Eagle Scout and also earned his money by delivering newspaper and picking papinkis. Before he graduated from The Kiski School in Saltsburg, Pennsylvania, he used to work in a gas station. After high school, Murtha joined the Washington and Jefferson College. |
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He left college in the year 1952 and then joined the Marine Corps. During his training, he was awarded a medal for showing outstanding leadership qualities. After he finished his Marine Corps training, Murtha became a drill instructor and was stationed at Parris Island. He then went to Quantico, Virginia, to train as an officer at the Officer Candidate School. After this, he was part of the Second Marine Division at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
Murtha never retired from the Marine Corps. He stayed on as part of the Marine Forces Reserves. He also ran a car washing business in Johnstown. After leaving the Marine Corps, he used the GI Bill to get entry into the University of Pittsburg where he studied economics.
In 1955, Murtha got married to Joyce, and the couple had three children, one daughter and two sons. As he was part of the Marine Reserves, he volunteered to take part in the Vietnam War and saw action from 1966 until 1967. For his service in Vietnam, he was awarded a Bronze star, 2 Purple Hearts and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry. It was in 1990 that Murtha retired from the Marine Corp. He was a colonel at that time.
When Murtha got elected to the House of Representatives, he was the first Vietname War veteran in the House. He was a member of the Pennsylvania House right from 1969 until 1974. In 1974, he managed to win a special election to the US Congress and thereafter, he won the election every 2 years until he passed away. As a politician, Murtha was best known for asking the withdrawal of the American forces from Iraq.
In 2009 December, Murtha complained of pain in the abdomen. He was admitted at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. His gallbladder was removed. However, he developed complications due to the surgery and had to readmitted into hospital. He died in February 2010.
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Wikipedia: John Murtha
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Murtha
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Those who are interested in American politics would have definitely heard the name of George Mitchell. He is the former Special Envoy for Peace for the Middle East. He is a Democrat and was the Senate majority leader from 1989 right until 1995. He even held the position of chairman for The Walt Disney Company from 2004 until the beginning of 2007. Another feather in Mitchell's cap is that he was the main investigator in the use of performance enhancing drugs in baseball. 