Slashing red tape: Staffers for Sen. Kerry helped Ciara Durkin’s family battle bureaucracy

[ProSense]

Slashing red tape: Staffers for Sen. Kerry helped Ciara Durkin’s family battle bureaucracy

By TOM BENNER
The Patriot Ledger

First, the Durkin family got the horrific news: Spc. Ciara Durkin, a Quincy resident and an Army National Guard soldier, had been killed in Afghanistan.

Then came the help - from relatives, friends, neighbors, even people they never knew.

Drew O’Brien was among the latter. He had never met the Durkins. But in the subsequent days and weeks, he and his colleagues from U.S. Sen. John Kerry’s office would be a near-constant presence in the family’s lives, helping them navigate the thorny, often convoluted military and political bureaucracy.

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Kerry, who routinely speaks with military families, reached Ciara’s mother, Angela, by phone Sunday night. A Vietnam War veteran, Kerry said he feels strongly about standing by military families.

‘‘These calls come more and more frequently these last years, and they remind me too much of calls I used to get 40 years ago,’’ Kerry said in an e-mail. ‘‘Any time someone gives their life for our country, it hits hard.’’

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[Democrafty]

1. Nice article - thanks for sharing, ProSense! n/t

[ProSense]

2. More

Media Reveal Disturbing New Twists in Death of Soldier in Afghanistan

[karynnj]

3. What a tragedy

I hope the family gets the answers they need. The lack of the true story has to make a devastating time even worse.

[rox63]

4. I feel so lucky to have the Senators we have in MA

K&R

[beachmom]

5. Thanks, Prosense. I've been following this story from the beginning.

It is heartbreaking for the family, and I am relieved that Sen. Kerry is involved to make sure an investigation is done thoroughly.