No-one ever focuses on the many good things we have done over in Afghanistan, and maybe that's because the media fails to highlight them. The Afghan people revolt over a burned Quran (inadvertently at that), urinating on dead corpses (not a good thing) and the horrific rampage of one lone soldier who flipped out. They don't see these as isolated incidents (perhaps because they are too ignorant to make the distinction), so they blame the U.S. and turn to violence. And all the good deeds get sidelined by the
bad.
So, it's all the more important for us to honor those who have sacrificed themselves for a mostly ungrateful country, since the mainstream media won't.
Like Spc. Dennis P. Weichel from Rhode Island, father of 3 young ones, who saved the life of a young Afghan girl and, as a result, lost his own. The ultimate sacrifice.
While riding in a convoy in Laghman Province in eastern Afghanistan Thursday, Spc. Dennis P. Weichel Jr., 29, and his unit, noticed children collecting shell casings on the road ahead, ABC reports.
The soldiers urged the children to get out of the way, but one girl ran back to pick up more casings underneath a Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicle -- a truck that can weigh more than 16 tons.
To protect the girl from the massive vehicle, the Rhode Island National Guardsman lifted the girl out of the way, but the armored truck ran him over.
Weichel later died from injuries he sustained and the girl survived, according to the news outlet.
"Specialist Dennis Weichel's life was marked by bravery, selflessness, and commitment to others -- and unfortunately it was in demonstrating these remarkable characteristics that it was lost," Governor Lincoln Chafee said, according to WPRI. “And he will be remembered, and mourned, by people across our state as a great Rhode Islander.”
Weichel was posthumously awarded the bronze star and is survived by his parents, fiancé and three children.
Flags were flown at half-mast in Providence.
Rest in peace brave warrior.
