NEWSROOM WITH MORE ON THIS. AND TODD, YOU JUST SPOKE TO A STATE REP JENNIFER. WE SPOKE WITH STATE REP STEVE XIARHOS. HE REPRESENTS THE CAPE ON BEACON HILL, BUT HE’S ALSO A GOLD STAR FATHER, AND IT IS IN THAT CAPACITY THAT WE SPOKE WITH HIM. WHILE WE DO NOT YET KNOW THE IDENTITIES OF THE U.S. SERVICE MEMBERS KILLED OR WHERE THEY’RE FROM. STEVE XIARHOS KNOWS THE PAIN THEIR FAMILIES ARE NOW SUFFERING. HIS SON, MARINE CORPORAL NICHOLAS XIARHOS, WAS KILLED IN ACTION IN AFGHANISTAN IN JULY 2009. STEVE XIARHOS, WHO IS A REPUBLICAN, SAYS TIMES LIKE THIS CALL FOR AMERICANS TO PUT POLITICS ASIDE. I KNOW THE PAIN, AND I WISH IT DIDN’T HAPPEN, BUT I WANT EVERYONE TO KNOW, LIKE. FREEDOM IS NOT FREE. IT’S NOT JUST A SAYING. SO I ASK EVERYBODY TO LIKE, PRAY FOR THESE FAMILIES AND TRY TO. PUT COUNTRY OVER POLITICS RIGHT NOW, ESPECIALLY THE MILITARY HAS NOT RELEASED DETAILS OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH THE THREE U.S. SERVICE MEMBERS WERE KILLED. FIVE OTHERS WERE SERIOUSLY WOUNDED. AGAIN, AT THIS POINT, WE DO NOT KNOW THE IDENTITIES OF THE FALLEN AMERICANS OR WHERE THEY ARE FROM, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND SAYS IT IS WITHHOLDING ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, INCLUDING THE IDENTITIES, UNTIL 24 HOURS AFTER NEXT OF KIN HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED. REPORTING LIVE TONIGHT IN THE
‘Freedom is not free’: Mass. state rep. reacts to Iran strikes
Updated: 6:16 PM EST Mar 1, 2026
Massachusetts state Rep. Steve Xiarhos called for politics to be put aside after three servicemen were killed during a U.S. operation in Iran over the weekend.Three American service members were killed and five were seriously wounded in military operations targeting Iran, the U.S. military said. The servicemen’s deaths are amongst the first reported casualties since the U.S. and Israel launched a joint surprise attack on Iran. Most lawmakers from Massachusetts condemned the strikes, calling them a “reckless escalation of war.”Xiarhos, a Republican who represents Cape Cod, is a Gold Star Father whose son, Nicholas Xiarhos, was killed in Afghanistan in 2009. “I know the pain, and I wish it didn’t happen, but I want everyone to know freedom is not free. It’s not just a saying, so I ask everybody to pray for these families and try to put country over politics right now, especially,” Xiarhos said.The military has not released details of the circumstances in which the service members were killed, nor their identities, until the next of kin has been notified.
BOSTON —
Massachusetts state Rep. Steve Xiarhos called for politics to be put aside after three servicemen were killed during a U.S. operation in Iran over the weekend.
Three American service members were killed and five were seriously wounded in military operations targeting Iran, the U.S. military said. The servicemen’s deaths are amongst the first reported casualties since the U.S. and Israel launched a joint surprise attack on Iran.
Most lawmakers from Massachusetts condemned the strikes, calling them a “reckless escalation of war.”
Xiarhos, a Republican who represents Cape Cod, is a Gold Star Father whose son, Nicholas Xiarhos, was killed in Afghanistan in 2009.
“I know the pain, and I wish it didn’t happen, but I want everyone to know freedom is not free. It’s not just a saying, so I ask everybody to pray for these families and try to put country over politics right now, especially,” Xiarhos said.
The military has not released details of the circumstances in which the service members were killed, nor their identities, until the next of kin has been notified.