Posted on 03/29/2012 2:37:36 PM PDT by Doogle
An Army sergeant and father of three from Rhode Island who gave his life to save an Afghan child from being run over by a 16-ton armored fighting vehicle is being flown back to the U.S. and will be buried Monday.
Sgt. Dennis Weichel, 29, died in Afghanistan last week after he dashed into the path of an armored fighting vehicle to scoop up the little girl, who had darted back into the roadway to pick up shell casings, according to the Army. Weichel, a Rhode Island National Guardsman, was riding in the convoy in Laghman Province in eastern Afghanistan when he jumped out to save the girl, who was unhurt.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Or she’ll be stoned to death for even trying.
“... But it was obviously in his nature to protect the weak, esecially children.”
That may comfort his widow and orphans.
What you say is true, but the reason why good men die like this is that they know no other way of living.
The girls situation is not pertinent, if it was, we would simply nuke everything and everyone who hates us or is probably likley to do so at some point.
Now, it is up to us, as Americans, to insure such sacrifice is not lost on those of his left behind.
We do this through the VA, SGLI, retirement benefits (he lived long enough to likely be retired on Active Duty at 100% pay for his rank/seniority through medical protocols) and by insuring our elected servants (some sarc, I guess) do right by those who serve and suffer loss.
God, indeed will see this sacrifice as a noble event. I hope the Warrior is enlisted in the Saviors Army as well.
May God richly bless those who are willing to risk all for someone else, even if they are never asked....
God will judge him favorably but on the human level his wife and children are deprived of a father. But maybe somehow this all works out to the good
How does his surviving family feel to be left alone all to save an Afghanistani girl who will end up in a burqa anyway? Someways they will be angry at him. It would be easier to take if he died saving one of his fellow National Guardsmen
Sadly. I believe each life is unique and God given. But the women of the Middle East are beaten and doomed at birth.
May God bless and keep this man, a true man. He saw his child in this child, and reacted as only a loving Father could.
The girl he saved will die before the age of 40, typically. She will be treated horribly, and perhaps bought and used, and then thrown away like a piece of trash.
It is so miserable to think this way, but it is reality. My husband is a kind, God-fearing man. His experiences lead him to believe that Afghanistan is beyond hope.
I pray that his Family find peace.
In my biblical world view, God will judge us all only on the virtue of a personal relationship with Christ-atoned for by the saving blood of the lamb. But you are entitled to your own viewpoint, of course.
On the human level, he did what he did with no hesitation. He saved an innocent, even though she could be completely lost a moment later. Situational ethics is what is getting us down this slope to lawlessness and inhumanity. Again, my observation of many many people over the last 4 decades or so.
His surviving family knows that he died doing something that they would have wanted him to do for them if needed. Like the SF NCO who raced back into his fully engulfed home outside of Ft. Bragg days after returning from yet another combat tour to rescue his missing children. He died trying to save them, alas, in this case, he failed, they perished as well. Another hero who was willing to (and who likely already had) put it all on the line for others.
I hope that we all recognize the supreme character of these mortals when the events require it. You don’t just turn this mode on, eithr you live it or you ain’t it.
I am humbled to even mention these fine men. I miss them, having served with many just like them.
Best.
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