Utah Marine hailed as peacemaker

Among the seven Cawley siblings, James W. Cawley was the middle child, the quiet brother and the peacemaker.

"He always made the conflicts right," his elder sister Julie Cawley Hanson said Sunday. "He was very cool-headed and very calm. He was a quiet boy, but as he grew to manhood he became a leader of the family."

Cawley, 41, a Salt Lake City police officer and a Marine reservist, was killed in a firefight near Nasiriyah, Iraq, about 4 a.m. Iraq time Saturday, the first Utahn to lose his life in the 11-day-old war.

A staff sergeant for the 1st Platoon, Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Marine Reserve Regiment, Cawley's unit came under fire from enemy forces Saturday. Cawley was killed when he was struck by a coalition-forces Humvee while seeking a secure position out of the line of fire, U.S. Marine spokesman Capt. Shawn Turner said from the Pentagon Sunday.

Today two other siblings, Debbie Seamons and Mike Cawley, joined Hanson in a news conference. They asked people to pray for President Bush, prisoners of war and the safe return of U.S. troops. And they asked Utahns to fly flags at their homes every day until the troops return.

They had another message to deliver, too.

"We especially want the driver of the Humvee that struck James to know that we know he was just doing his job," Hanson said. "We want him to feel no guilt."

Cawley's last communication to Hanson, an e-mail, was Feb. 18, an hour before he left Camp Pendleton for Kuwait. In that e-mail, Cawley told Hanson what to do if he died while serving his country. Family members did not discuss those instructions.

"There is a huge hole in our hearts because of his passing," the family said Sunday in a statement released through the Salt Lake police department. "He was a very righteous man and wanted to protect his country. He had a very strong sense of right and wrong. He wanted to protect people from the 'bad guys' and make the world a safer place."

Cawley leaves behind his wife of 10 years, Miyuki, whom he met in Okinawa, Japan, and their two children, Cecil, 8, and Keiko, 6. The family is from Layton. Cawley moved to Utah when he was about 14 years old, Hanson said.

Miyuki Cawley did not attend today's news conference but sent a message through his siblings: "My husband is a great man, best friend and a great father and uncle. I am very proud that he is my husband. Please don't forget those soldiers who fight for our freedoms."