Phillip Serwinowski isn’t exactly sure what his son would think of his anti-war activism.

He only knows that his 21-year-old son, Timothy, a Marine who died June 21, 2010, in Marjah, Helmand Province, Afghanistan, gave his life so that he and other Americans continue to have the right to speak out on any issue – including against continuing the war there and also in Iraq.

“My son was a proud Marine. I don’t know. That’s a good question,” said Serwinowski of UAW Local 774. “He did it for my right to do it.”

As another Memorial Day passes, Serwinowski, a fork lift driver with 38 years of seniority at General Motors’ Tonawanda (N.Y.) Powertrain plant outside of Buffalo, says the argument that fighting the terrorists in those countries keeps them out of America doesn’t make sense to him.

“If that’s the case, then we need to go into 50 other nations and do the same thing. To me that is just bull and let’s stop it,” he said. “I’m trying to get the politicians in the House and the United States Senate on board to stop this madness.”

Lance Cpl. Serwinowski died as he was the first to emerge from a tree line when a sniper’s shot got below his body armor. Known as “Ski,” to the rest of his platoon, he would literally give the boots off his feet to another Marine as he did to his friend, Lance Cpl. Nathan McCormack, who needed a pair when his wore out. McCormack, who gave Phillip Serwinowski the folded U.S. flag that draped his son’s coffin at his funeral, told the family that “Ski” was the platoon’s “snack guy.”

“He would hold more food on his body that anybody else,” Serwinowski said. “He had a knack for hiding snacks.”

That was in addition to carrying all of his gear and a SMAW, military jargon for Shoulder-Fired Multi-Purpose Artillery Weapon, akin to a small bazooka and weighing in at 35 pounds.

The blue-eyed Marine, a graduate of North Tonawanda High School where there is an annual $1,000 scholarship in his memory, wrote his father just before his death to ask him about his options for the future. A career in the Marine Corps? Maybe border security. He could even become a police officer. His last written words to his father were: “What do you think, Dad?”

Phillip Serwinowski thinks the wars must end. Aside from the tremendous drain on our economic recovery – money that could be spent on education, job creation, transportation infrastructure and other vital needs, the futures of young Americans are being wasted.

“I encourage everyone who reads this article to write a letter to bring our troops home. That’s what I’m going to do right now,” Serwinowski said, explaining that even during this interview he was stuffing envelopes with hundreds of photos of Timothy’s funeral along with a heartfelt letter urging lawmakers to bring the troops home.

Timothy’s mother, Sally Urban, is leading an effort to keep military recruiters from setting up at high schools. Phillip Serwinowski was politically active long before his son’s death, but he’s also 100 percent behind those who risk their lives to protect ours.

The Serwinowski family has channeled the hurt from the loss of Timothy into bringing our troops home and into making sure that they have basic essentials when they are deployed.

Timothy’s sister, Kate, has adopted three platoons in Afghanistan, and in the last six months has sent 250 packages of various items needed or requested by the troops, including gloves, blankets, toiletries and – of course – a great variety of snacks, including much-sought homemade goods.

“It’s the little things we take for granted,” Kate Serwinowski said. “For them, it’s a luxury.”

It costs $13 to send the box to Afghanistan, and she relies on the generosity of UAW members and others to make a service member’s day a little brighter when they see that small gift and maybe a letter or card from home.

Timothy’s platoon was scheduled to be shipped back to Afghanistan for another tour this summer.

Whatever your feelings are about the wisdom of continuing the wars, one thing is for certain: “They will be the best-supplied platoon in all of Afghanistan,” Phillip Serwinowski said, adding how proud he was of his daughter. “We will take care of them.”

Vince Piscopo