The war in Iraq hit home when Dorchester lost its first son in Baghdad last month.

Sgt. Danny Londono, 22 years of age, a member of the 82nd Airborne Division, lost his life on March 13. The government reported that an "improvised explosive device" blew up the vehicle he was riding in. He was buried with full military honors last week at Cedar Grove Cemetery.

Danny grew up on East Cottage Street, graduated from St. Margaret School and from "Archie Bill's," Archbishop Williams High School. It has been reported that he enlisted in the Army right out of high school, and hoped to earn and save money to help pay for college for himself and his younger sister. Had he survived, he would have returned home in just two months. But now he's gone, a victim of the increasingly mindless daily violence that continues as the Bush administration seeks to bring democracy to Iraq.

US Army General Richard Rowe said of him, "Danny fought for his country because it was what he believed in ... and in the end, he gave America the greatest sacrifice any American could give - his life."

Danny's family- his sister, Diana, his mom, Iwona, and his father, Bernardo - attempt to go on, and it is a time for the community to surround them and help them cope during this time of awful grief.

A memorial fund has been established at Members Plus Credit Union. The Dorchester community has always been generous, and now there's a way to help Danny's family. Send donations to The Daniel J. Londono Fund, c/o Members Plus Credit Union, 782 Adams Street, Dorchester MA 02124.

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There's been another OFDer in the news of late. Richard Clarke, the former national security head in the White House, is himself Originally From Dorchester, and attended the Charles H. Taylor school on Morton Street. Peter Kadzis, executive editor of the Boston Phoenix and an Arbella Road kid, said this week he remembers Clarke riding the bus with him when they both went to Boston Latin School. "He got on around Evans Drug (near the corner of Morton and West Selden streets)," Kadzis said this week. Former City Councillor Larry DiCara recalls that Clark's mother sometimes drove them to school, and that Clarke's father, who worked at Walter Baker's in Lower Mills, passed away while they during those years. "There were four of us on the first debate team - Clarke, Connolly, Arnett Waters and myself. He seemed to become more conservative after his father died."

Considered a "policy wonk," Dot's Richard Clarke has become the epicenter for a firestorm with the publication of his book, Against All Enemies, and his testimony last week before the 9/11 Commission. Clarke has made some serious charges about the Bush administration's conduct of foreign policy.

Was the Bush/Rumsfeld team reckless in sending our sons and daughters into Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein, while lowering the priority for catching Osama bin Laden? Or will this new "Bush doctrine" eventually prove inspired and wise for the future of our country? Time will tell.

But there is a sad irony in observing that the day after one of Dorchester's sons was laid to rest in his soldier's grave at Cedar Grove cemetery, another son of Dorchester from an earlier generation raised questions about whether the sending troops into harm's way in Iraq was necessary.

The debate will continue to rage, and the divisions in our country are certain to grow. But if the coming months bring more and more military body bags, the support for this man Bush in the White House must surely erode. Let it be said that a Dorchester man, Richard Clarke, helped spark the national debate that is so vital for our country's future.

- Ed Forry