Congressman John Murtha dead at 77

By Carol Mannix – Staff Writer

Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. John Murtha, died Monday at 77 at the Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Va.

Murtha had been suffering complications from a gall bladder surgery, spokesman Matthew Mazonkey said.

Murtha represented Pennsylvania’s 12th district for 36 years and, after 19 terms, was not only one of the longest serving members of the House, but also the longest serving member from Pennsylvania. Additionally, Murtha was the eighth-most senior member in the House of Representatives, according to CBS.

He had considerable power for two decades, as the ranking Democrat of the House subcommittee that overseas Pentagon spending, the House Appropriations defense subcommittee.  Additionally, he caused controversy in Washington after he vocalized his opposition of the Iraq war in 2005, after initially voting to authorize the use of military force in Iraq in 2002.

“The war in Iraq is not going as advertised. It is a flawed policy wrapped in illusion,” Murtha said in 2005.

Born in 1932, Murtha delivered newspaper and worked at a gas station before graduating high school and joining the Marines in 1952, following in the military footsteps of his great-grandfather, father, uncles and brothers.

He later volunteered to go to Vietnam, spending 1966-1967 serving as an intelligence officer and receiving a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts.

Murtha later got a degree in economics in 1962 from the University of Pittsburgh after being discharged from the Marines and went on to serve in the Pennsylvania House in 1969. He was elected to Congress in 1974 and retired from the Marine Reserves as a colonel.

“Ever since I was a young boy, I had two goals in life, I wanted to be a colonel in the Marine Corps and a member of Congress,” Murtha wrote in his 2004 book, “From Vietnam to 9/11.”

Although Republicans used Murtha’s comments about the Iraq War against him in 2008 campaign commercials, he still won his 18th full term.

In 2007 and 2008, Murtha also found himself embroiled in a monetary scandal concerning the so-called “pay-to-play” politics. Specifically, his critics recall an instance in which the FBI caught him on videotape in a 1980 sting operation turning down a $50,000 bribe offer while holding out the possibility that he might take money in the future.

However, this did not affect Murtha, when six other congressmen and one senator were convicted in the case.

Murtha’s district includes nine counties in southwestern Pennsylvania and has been called the embodiment of the region’s stereotyped coal mines, steel mills and blue-collar workers. He has been credited with bringing jobs, healthcare and hundreds of millions of dollars for local industry, hospitals and tourism to the region.

University officials did not immediately return phone calls for comments at press time.

A complete biography is available on his website: http://www.murtha.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=318&Itemid=1

Additional reporting by CBS.com and AP