Entire Afghan village mourns the death of American Sailor…

Here is another very important story on the war on terror. I know a great many of you only fixate on the bad news or anything that shows the USA in a negative light (the only news that sells papers in your part of the world apparently). But this story is about a man who changed some Afghans lives in the most meaningful way possible, ultimately at the cost of his life. This is just one of thousands of stories of American and coalition servicemen and women doing selfless acts for people in need. For every incident you hear about concerning questionable actions of coalition troops, there are a thousand others about kindness, generosity, and compassion. But those don’t sell ad space…

So I am starting this thread to give a voice to those stories in this war on terror, the “good stories” the media seems to miss.

The Selfless John Fralish

This story is about an Old Afghan man asking for help for a young critically wounded girl. This old man, sought out American troops at his own peril (The Taliban would have killed him if they knew), in the middle of the night. A handful of American soldiers, sailors, and Marines led by John Fralish followed that old man into hostile territory to help him…

Please read it all, but here is a snippet:

“…Fralish took off his rank insignia and gave it to the elderly man, along with a note he wrote explaining who he was and what the situation was, so that the girl and her family could be given safe passage to the medical facility at Mehtar Lam.[snip]

Still, the girl’s wound and infection were too serious to be adequately treated at Mehtar Lam, Schneider said. Nothing short of amputation of her lower leg – which could not be performed locally – would save her life.

“When we heard that, everyone passed the hat around, and we got enough money together so the family could hire a car to take them to the hospital at Bagram Airfield,” Schneider said. “It was airmen, soldiers, Marines and sailors -- everyone chipping in together…”

The entire village came to mourn John’s death. All John did was help another human that needed it, nothing different than all the tens of thousands of other troops are doing each and every day.

John is a hero, just ask that little girl. Heck, ask anybody in the village.

Share your coalition stories of heroism and compassion here. If you have nothing positive to add, please don’t post. I know that will be a challenge for some of you, but please resist.

Ill post more myself as I have time.


[edit on 4-5-2006 by skippytjc]

Your link does not work, try this one.

Great story Skippy, and your right these stories never get the recognition they deserve. Not every soldier forgets their humanity when they put on their uniform as some people tend to believe.

Love, compassion, and the general caring of others, goes a long way, but it would seem the commodity of TRUST far outweighs the value of even these.

Not only did he save this little girls life, but also set a standard of bonding and trust with the Afghan people.

Knowing that the old man on the mission chose coalition forces instead of the Taliban gives some insight as to what these Afghan people think deep down inside but are still afraid to say. Some may say it is a lesser of two evils,, maybe its just the lesser of one.

For the Afghan people of this village and the little girl, his memory will live long after this war is over, and so it should.

I fixed my link, but thanks Dark



Anybody else want to share similar stories? I will have more myself soon.

[edit on 4-5-2006 by skippytjc]

Good find Skippy. Alot of US troops are doing good and thier impact is felt. Not always reported but felt none the less.

Excellent story skippy. I just posted that response til you could get back to fix yours.

We really need to see more of that. There are way too many people ready to jump on the "US service people are babykillers" bandwagon. It's nice to see something different for a change. Thanks

Here's a 'good news' story out of Afghanistan. It doesn't involve US troops, so many might not have an interest, but I'm just as proud of my country as you are of yours.

A 6 year old boy and his grandfather showed up at the Khandahar base looking for help for the boys cancerous tumour. The little boy ended up dying but the actions of the Canadian soldiers touched the entire village.

Namatullah was different. He came into Canada's orbit a month ago when he was brought by his grandfather to the gate of the PRT, suffering in extreme pain from the final stages of a horribly disfiguring facial cancer that had spread to his lymph nodes and abdomen.

......

Cpl. Brian Sanders, an army ambulance driver, promptly e-mailed Namatullah's picture and story to his church in Edmonton, which spearheaded a campaign to raise thousands of dollars for the boy's palliative care.

So much money was donated from across Canada -- more than $18,000 -- that within days of his arrival at the Canadian base, the boy was flown to a cancer institute in Pakistan, where he received not only help for his pain but also chemotherapy treatment.

canada.com

The soldiers were invited to the family's home to be a part of the wake.

This story got pretty heavy coverage in Canada, but I thought it would be new to some here, and it definitely fits with this thread.



edited for link fix

[edit on 4-5-2006 by Duzey]

Thanks Duz! It’s the stories that are important, not the soldier’s origin. I know I stated Americans, but I also stated coalition as well, and yes, that even means moose riding Canadians!

I feel safer when our soldiers ride moose.

If we put them in submarines or those crappy old Sea Kings, bad things happen.

I didn't mean to sound cranky, it just seems that sometimes, because we didn't go to Iraq, people forget that Canada does have troops in Afghanistan.

You kidding me? I dont have the link right now, but last week a group of Canadian and Afghan tough guys killed like 40 taliban in an attack. Ill have to find the link and post it, was very impressive.

It would be nice for the news to show stories like this.

Thanks for posting that.