Using $2 veto pen a priceless act for father of fallen Marine

President Bush on Tuesday used a regular black-ink, felt-tip pen not his usual personalized Cross-brand pen when he vetoed a timeline for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

The pen was a gift from Robert Derga, the father of a U.S. Marine killed in Iraq. Mr. Derga of Uniontown, Ohio, gave Mr. Bush the pen after a speech by the president last month at the White House and had asked him to use it when he vetoed the timeline.

Mr. Bush had invited a number of “Gold Star Families” those who have lost a U.S. military member in Iraq to the speech April 16 and met with them afterward in the Oval Office.

Mr. Derga, 53, said the pen was the one he used to write letters to his son, Marine Cpl. Dustin A. Derga.

“It was just a common run of the mill I don’t even remember the brand name,” Mr. Derga said. “It was just a $2 pen. Nothing special.”

Mr. Bush met with the Dergas and other families for about 45 minutes and spoke directly with each family.

“I looked the president square in the eye,” Mr. Derga said. “I looked at him and said, ‘Mr. President, if this Iraq supplemental comes down to a veto, I want you to use my pen to do it.’”

Mr. Bush “kind of looked at me funny for a moment and then said, ‘Absolutely,’ and then handed the pen to his assistant,” he said.

“He assured me he would use it,” Mr. Derga said.

Cpl. Derga was killed in Iraq on May 8, 2005, while leading house-to-house searches in Ubaydi, Iraq. He was 24.

He was the first Marine killed from Lima Company, with the Marine Force Reserve’s 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, based in Columbus, Ohio.

On Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Derga was shutting off his computer at work about 5:30 p.m. when he received a call from Jared Weinstein, Mr. Bush’s personal aide.

Mr. Weinstein was calling “to tell me that the president had signed the veto with my pen,” Mr. Derga said.

“They wanted to again give their heartfelt condolences on our loss of Dustin,” he said. “I was pretty blown away is one way of putting it. I couldn’t believe he actually did it.”

Mr. Derga, a manager for Diebold Inc., said it was gratifying to be able to show his support for Mr. Bush and for the war, even if it has not always been easy to support the U.S. mission in Iraq.

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