WASHINGTON (CN) - John Murtha, an influential Democratic Congressman from Pennsylvania, died Monday afternoon at the age of 77 after complications from a recent surgery.
Having spent 36 years in office, he was the longest serving Pennsylvania member of Congress.
Murtha, who was a marine during the Vietnam War and served as chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on defense, is perhaps best known for his criticism of the way the Iraq war was handled.Despite his support in starting the war and his efforts to make sure the war was fully funded, Murtha became an outspoken and important critic in 2005, and called for the troops to be brought home from Iraq
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