Tiger Woods is hardly due a profile in courage

We're a nation at war, and a golfer commandeered the country's airwaves to apologize for cheating on his wife.

The only thing missing from Tiger Woods' public self-stoning was a scarlet "A" on his sport coat.

But this column isn't about the puffy, somber Woods who took over TV and radio last Friday.

It's about a young man who couldn't get to a TV to watch.

Josh Birchfield was his name.

For 13 minutes as the world stood still while Tiger talked, Josh was preoccupied.

He was busy dying for his country.

The 24-year-old United States Marine from Westville, Ind., was in Afghanistan, a long way from home and a world away from Tiger Woods.

As Woods kept repeating how sorry he was for bedding countless women and violating his wedding vows, LCpl. Birchfield was working on the biggest military offensive since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan.

Birchfield, a fresh-faced soldier who just a couple years ago was a high school baseball player and remained a devoted Chicago Cubs fan to the end, was killed in Marjah Friday morning.

The Afghan city 360 miles southwest of Kabul has been a Taliban stronghold for several years. The Marines were part of a sizable force that continued Friday to dislodge Taliban fighters from Marjah.

In the LaPorte County town of Westville, with a population of only 2,100, word spread quickly once Birchfield's parents were notified of their son's death.

Even on Friday night, as analysts, advisers and experts dissected the statement read by Tiger Woods before he headed back for more sex counseling, the Birchfields hadn't been informed exactly how their son died.

Only two years into the Marine Corps, was his last moment on earth facing a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG)? Or had it been an improvised explosive device (IED) buried by an extremist on the side of a road? The uniform delegation that came to inform them didn't know.

By Saturday, it seemed likely that Josh Birchfield was the soldier referred to by NATO officials when they reported one fatality Friday during a small-arms skirmish in Marjah.

Down in Westville, topic #1 wasn't the location of Tiger Woods' next golf tournament appearance; whether Woods might play in The Masters didn't matter to the dozens of people who gathered Friday night in the Blackhawk Inn bar.

They were too busy trying to plan a funeral.

"The sacrifice he made for his country is definitely hitting me pretty hard," SSGT. Brandun Schweizer, one of Birchfield's good friends, told WSBT-TV. Schweizer, who served three tours in Iraq, described his dead friend as "a great, great individual; a truly great young man."

Birchfield was scheduled to return from Afghanistan May 28. The local American Legion was putting to together a big welcome home ceremony. Now though, instead of a homecoming party in LaPorte County on the 28th, they'll be remembering Birchfield during Memorial Day ceremonies on the 25th.

They will tell the story of why he joined the service two years ago.

"He said he was tired of not going anywhere with his life. He wanted to get out there and do something meaningful," said Schweizer.

"He had a fine life here. He was doing well," another friend, Steve Bachman, told WSBT. "He had a good job, good family, good people around him. But, he saw people with families that had their children back here living with grandparents while they're over there fighting for us. He was just a regular, single guy - 22-years-old. And he said: 'What am I doing? Why don't I go help?'"

You didn't hear Birchfield make that proclamation on TV. For those who do our heavy lifting, there is no paparazzi. He just signed up, did the training and took the oath.

Some people will remember Friday, Feb. 19, 2010, as the day that Tiger Woods said: "It's not what you achieve in life that matters; it's what you overcome."

I'll remember it as the day that Marine LCpl. Josh Birchfield did more than talk. He died a real American hero. No apology necessary.

• Chuck Goudie, whose column appears each Monday, is the chief investigative reporter at ABC 7 News in Chicago. The views in this column are his own and not those of WLS-TV. He can be reached by e-mail at chuckgoudie@gmail.com and followed at twitter.com/ChuckGoudie