Martyr
Iraqi man sacrifices himself to save neighbors, American soldiers:
FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, Iraq – An Iraqi man saved the lives of four U.S. Soldiers and eight civilians when he intercepted a suicide bomber during a Concerned Citizens meeting in the town of al-Arafia Aug. 18.
The incident occurred while Soldiers from 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, were talking with members of the al-Arafia Concerned Citizens, a volunteer community group, at a member’s house.
“I was about 12 feet away when the bomber came around the corner,” said Staff Sgt. Sean Kane, of Los Altos, Calif., acting platoon sergeant of Troop B, 3-1 Cav. “I was about to engage when he jumped in front of us and intercepted the bomber as he ran toward us. As he pushed him away, the bomb went off.”
The citizen’s actions saved the lives of four U.S. Soldiers and eight civilians.
Kane felt the loss personally because he had met and interacted with his rescuer many times before the incident.
“He was high-spirited and really believed what the group (Concerned Citizens) was doing,” Kane said. “I have no doubt the bomber was trying to kill American Soldiers. It was very calculated the way the bomber tried to do it. If he hadn’t intercepted him, there is no telling how bad it could have been.”
Kane believes the citizen is a hero.
“He could have run behind us or away from us, but he made the decision to sacrifice himself to protect everyone. Having talked with his father, I was told that even if he would have known the outcome before hand, he wouldn’t have acted differently.”
Capt. Brian Gilbert, of Boise, Idaho, the commander of Company D, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, currently attached to 3-1 Cavalry, echoed Kane’s sentiment.
“I spoke with the father,” Gilbert said. “He said he has no remorse in his son’s death because he died saving American Soldiers.”
And that is something a lot of people haven’t recognized about all these deaths of American soldiers in the last six years, and not a few Iraqis. A life given for others may be a cause for sadness, but it is not a tragedy. This is why, if you’ve attended a soldier’s funeral, you may walk away conflicted. Heartbroken and inspired.
Now someone explain to me why I can’t find this man’s story on the wires. Are they too busy to write about it?
The wires have shown a noted antipathy for MNF-I press releases, except when convention requires them to allow some response to whatever doom-and-gloom scenario they are presenting, or when by juxtaposition and phrasing they choose to demean those releases. Regularly and religiously updated American death lists and daily bombing roundups, for example, not matched by detailing of enemy deaths, arrests, etc., despite readily available roundups of the latter. It may be a point of pride. Journalists tend to sneer at flacks and press releases, prefer their own reporting. Fair enough. When they are actually doing some.
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 11:22 pm on Tuesday, August 21, 2007
6 Responses to “Martyr”
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August 22nd, 2007 at 12:31 am
My thanks to him; my condolences to his family and friends.
I thought that if it bleeds, it leads. Didn’t this guy bleed enough?
August 22nd, 2007 at 1:53 am
Another unsung hero of this war. Damn the MSM and their bias.
August 22nd, 2007 at 5:16 am
[...] tip: Chuck Simmins via Jules Crittenden of the Boston Herald, who wondered why he cannot find this story on the wires. What? And miss the [...]
August 22nd, 2007 at 6:56 am
How sad.
August 22nd, 2007 at 11:39 am
[...] Jules Crittenden has the full story. [...]
August 22nd, 2007 at 1:11 pm
I thought that if it bleeds, it leads. Didn’t this guy bleed enough?
He bled for the wrong side, Salty. If he’d been the Allah-chanting bomb-throwing jihadi and managed to murder all those people, he’d make the front page.