An Irish Family of US Patriots

Irish immigrants Joe and Bridget Roughneen have four sons, all of whom have served (or are still serving) in Iraq. The eldest, Tom, is now running for Congress. APRIL DREW meets the proud family and talks to the candidate.THE son of Irish immigrants, after serving a year with the U.S. military in Iraq, has thrown his hat into the congressional ring and will run for a seat in the House of Representatives this year. A moderate conservative, Tom Roughneen, 38, is a gentleman if ever there was one. Arriving at his parents' house in Mountainside, New Jersey, a list of duties for his mother in one hand and a Blackberry (constantly vibrating) in the other, he paused momentarily, took a seat at the table and sipped on a cup of Barry's Irish tea. Roughneen, who is married to Dr. Alice Tzeng, is the oldest of five children, four boys and one girl, born to Bridget and Joe Roughneen in New Jersey. The Roughneens met in Gaelic Park over 40 years ago. Bridget is from Longford and Joe hails from Mayo. Tom was their first-born, followed by James, 37, Breda 36 and twin boys, Sean and Joseph, 34. All the boys have served in Iraq. As the sun smiled down on the Roughneen (pronounced Ruckneen) home, Bridget and Joe spoke fondly and proudly of all their children, specifically their oldest child Tom who aspires to be a great politician. "Tom is the sort of person who would do anything for anyone and I mean that," said his proud mother. Little did Bridget know when raising her boys that all four of them would grow up and join the U.S. Army. "It's always so hard to say goodbye," said Bridget, referring to her son Sean's very recent departure to Iraq. Two days before speaking to the Irish Voice, the Roughneen family, sans Bridget, gathered in Las Vegas, where James is based with his wife and two children, to say goodbye to Sean as he embarked on his second deployment for Iraq.Sean, Joseph and James are military aviators. Tom served in Iraq from 2003 to 2004 as a special operations civil affairs team leader and is currently an Army Reserve JAG Officer."They are the studs, I'm the pencil neck lawyer of the family," he laughed, while tucking into cake his mother put in front of him. Their sister opted to stay away from the war, and moved to Alaska where she recently completed her master's in public health and works in Anchorage. Tom, who is back from Iraq since 2004 and has since been working as a criminal defense lawyer for soldiers, was the first in the family to leave the nest and the first to serve his country. "It was hard but we supported his decision," said Joe.As sorrow darkened her face, Bridget spoke softly and sorrowfully about having to say goodbye to Sean as he embarked on a second tour of duty in Iraq. "I just can't do it anymore," she said in a voice tight with emotion. "The last time I had to say goodbye it took me a week to get back to work."Sean's departure was - to date - the most difficult for his parents, especially his mother. "Usually the twins serve together, looking out for each other, taking care of one other," she said. But this deployment means the twins are separated for a year. "As soon as Sean gets back Joseph will leave for his second tour," she explains. For the boys however it's what they have always wanted to do. Tom explains that his brothers, since they were teenagers, always wanted to serve in the Army. However, it took a recruiter six months to convince Tom and his parents that serving his country was the moral thing to do, so he enlisted. He has no regrets. Despite all the heartache the Roughneens undergo, they fully support their sons' decisions in life. "You give your kids wings and you let them fly. As much as I hate it I love to see them happy and complete," Bridget said. With his piercing blue eyes, Tom's manner is gentle, caring and empathic. He reminisced about his days as an Irish musician, even winning an All-Ireland competition at the age of 10. "Mom and dad made sure we were all involved in our Irish culture," he tells the Irish Voice, adding he used to love their trips to Ireland every summer when they were kids. He said he feels his heritage and upbringing - smothered in strong values and good ethics - is an advantage going into this election.Tom grew up in a Democratic household, but admitted that as soon as Ronald Reagan became president the family converted to Republican. That is expect for Joe, who to this day remains a Democrat."Dad is still a trooper Democrat but has kindly agreed to help me anyway," smiled Tom, while throwing a wink in the way of his father. Although an underdog in the race for a congressional seat in the upcoming New Jersey primary on June 3 - he is up against seven other candidates in the 7th Congressional District - Tom has something his other seven opponents don't - first hand experience serving his country, and a love of immigrants. Tom decided to run for Congress after coming back from Iraq and realizing there wasn't one legislator in the state of New Jersey considering the plight of reserves and their families. "No one was doing anything for them yet these were the same folks that marched in the Memorial Day parade wearing pins saying support our troops," he says.Speaking about immigrants, Roughneen, who is the only candidate running in the 7th District to favor comprehensive immigration reform, said "How can we turn our backs on the immigrants?""We trumpet around the world that this is the greatest country with the most freedoms, and we let them in and we let them stay and then we terrorize them at times to leave. It's not their fault that we attract people to come and stay," he said. "The candidates in this race are rich and out of touch. They don't understand the people who serve them everywhere they go may or may not be citizens. We can't just round everyone up and send them home," he said acknowledging that he is in the minority of Republicans supporting comprehensive immigration reform."It's controversial in a Republican primary but I don't mind. I know what's right and not right." Joe said it angers him to hear his son's opponents bashing immigrants. "Tom is great. He has his priorities in the right place and I'm proud of him for that," he said.The biggest thing that sets Tom apart from the other candidates is his first hand experience in Iraq. "None of the others have any immigrant or military experience so they have no idea the complications that arise. The issue is really important to me," he says.Although the underdog in such a big race, Tom feels he has a chance. His two biggest opponents in the primary are Kate Whitman, daughter of former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, and Leonard Lance, a third generation legislator. Tom said that Whitman has "no political experience." He believes because of her mother's position, a lot of money has been raised to support her campaign. "I can't compete against that, but I do have the experience to get the job done," he said. On Lance, Tom believes he is a man who has lied in the past about cutting taxes and wants to alienate immigrants. "I'm not sure any of these are the folks we need as the face of the Republican Party," he says.Bridget, who was initially worried that her son was taking on something bigger than he could chew, can clearly remember the day she knew he was doing the right thing. "It was a meet the candidates breakfast a few months ago. Thomas went up against all these so-called experts, and they don't know diddly about what is going on in the world," she said angrily. "Thomas went up to speak and of course we were all very emotional. It was just after Sean had went to Oklahoma for military training." Tom used his time on the pulpit to speak to his audience from the heart. He spoke about his time in Iraq and how difficult it was on his family. He asked his mother to stand up. "I was crying of course, and people were making a bee line to say thank you to me. They said they knew how tough it was and thanked me. Big strap