Lynn man reflects on brother as wall nears

LYNN – Kevin Cahill only had 60 more days to complete his tour of duty in Vietnam when he was killed in a skirmish Oct. 12, 1967.Tom Cahill still remembers the night his family drove into a Logan Airport freight terminal to retrieve the body of their brother and son. Kevin Cahill was one of the first men from Lynn to die in Vietnam.Like most of his friends, Kevin Cahill enlisted shortly after graduation from English High School. He picked the Marines and kept in close touch with his family after being sent overseas. His brother recalls how Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s office helped arrange to have the exorbitant cost of trans-Pacific telephone calls he made back home wiped off his family’s bill.The Cahills grew up on Garfield Avenue where neighborhood kids played and fought.”You’d run outside and there would be 400 kids in your face. My brother was a natural leader,” Tom Cahill said.He said the traveling wall’s visit to Lynn beginning Aug. 25 will place the loss of American lives in Afghanistan and Iraq in perspective with the loss of life in Vietnam.The traveling Vietnam veterans memorial “The Wall That Heals” will visit Fraser Field Aug. 27-30. Opening ceremonies will be held Aug. 27 at 6 p.m., followed by a ceremony honoring Gold Star Families on Aug. 28 at 6 p.m., a POW/MIA remembrance ceremony on Aug. 29 at 6 p.m. and closing ceremonies on Aug. 30 at 4 p.m. Admission is free and the entrance at 120 Locust St. will be open 24 hours a day. Parking is available on Ford and Locust streets. For more information, visit www.lynnwallvisit.com