R.I. Guardsman, Spc. Dennis Weichel, Dad Of 3 Kids, Dies Saving Afghan Girl.

[Daverika Wulff]

http://www.timesunion.com/news/artic...ed-3450422.php

KABUL, Afghanistan — The story of Specialist Dennis Weichel could easily be a counterpoint to the gruesome account of the U.S. soldier charged with 17 counts of murder in Kandahar on March 11. Weichel, who was 29, was killed while rescuing an Afghan child, but more than a week after that event the military here has yet to officially confirm what happened. Indeed, the initial details of the episode in northeastern Laghman province came not from military officials but from Afghan civilians and then fellow soldiers and friends in the United States.
After months of what has seemed like a relentless series of episodes of soldiers behaving badly, from Quran burnings to massacres, the military was almost reluctant to trumpet its good deeds, not only in the Weichel case, but in another recent case where soldiers saved the life of a Taliban insurgent's son.
On March 22, Weichel, an Army National Guardsman from Rhode Island, was riding in a convoy that was just leaving a firing range when he jumped from his vehicle to help clear a group of children out of the way. The children were trying to collect the brass shell casings at the range to sell for scrap metal. Afghan witnesses said that when a 10-year-old Afghan boy darted under a vehicle, Weichel climbed under and pushed him to safety. Then the huge vehicle ran over Weichel, killing him.
The boy, Zaiullah, the son of an Afghan policeman, confirmed the episode in an interview.
Matiullah Khan, a vegetable seller and Zaiullah's uncle, said, "As you know, all five fingers on one hand are not equal, and it's the same with American soldiers."
"What that soldier did in Kandahar was such a brutal act, no human could do what he did," he said, referring to the accusations against Staff Sgt. Robert Bales in the Kandahar killings. "This soldier, he looked at my nephew as a human being and endangered his life to save my nephew's life."
In a different mission of mercy, three days after the killings of which Bales is accused, medics at a combat outpost in southeastern Paktika province raced to save the life of Mateen, an 8-year-old boy wounded when his Taliban father's homemade bomb exploded.
The emergency mission involved two medevac helicopter flights and medical treatment at three military aid stations and hospitals. The boy survived despite losing his eyes and suffering other injuries. With skin grafts and prosthetic eyes, doctors repaired as much of his face as they could. The military finally announced what had happened last week, once the boy had been returned to his family.
The military is often hampered by its bureaucracy and slow to decide when and what information to release. A spokesman for Weichel's unit, Maj. Christopher Thomas, said an investigation was still under way. "I'm concerned we should not set the precedent of commenting before the investigation is complete," Thomas said, "even though from the reports we've heard it's a shining example of what our soldiers are all about."
Moreover, after years of emphasizing better community relations, most soldiers are now routinely involved in providing services to Afghans.
At Combat Outpost Kushamond in Paktika, for instance, most of the aid station's trauma patients have been either Afghan civilians hurt in Taliban explosions or attacks, or wounded Taliban fighters, said the outpost commander, Capt. Giles Wright. "This is professionalism is all, that's just, they're human, too," Wright said. "My philosophy is that if you were taught from Day 1 we are all infidels and you had zero education you're probably going to believe what you were taught is correct. We recognize that."
On March 14, in the accident involving Mateen, a group of children playing in the yard of a house a few miles from the outpost somehow set off an improvised explosive device hidden in a radio speaker box. The owner of the house, Saboodzai, was known to the U.S. military as a local Taliban commander. The dead included two of his sons, a girl who was a cousin and a neighbor's son; Mateen was badly wounded.
A neighbor took Mateen, who had burns and multiple blast injuries, on a tractor to the outpost, where four medics worked on him. "His airway was being compromised, we were losing him on the table," said one of the medics, Sgt. Anthony Merino.
Mateen was evacuated first to Forward Operating Base Sharana, farther north in Paktika, where he was resuscitated at a field hospital, and then flown to Bagram Air Base, where there is a fully equipped trauma hospital.
His eyes were too severely injured to save, but after five hours of surgery, "his prognosis is very good other than he is blind and living in Afghanistan, which is obviously an unfortunate situation to be in," said the doctor in charge, Maj. Bradley Putty.
Wright said that the rapid reactions of all involved saved the boy's life. "If all those things hadn't happened within that golden hour, he wouldn't have had a chance," he said.
Weichel, who was the father of three young children with his fiancee, was praised by his comrades for his sacrifice.
"That's Specialist Weichel for you," said Sgt. First Class Robert Tobin, who was with him that day. "He had a tremendous love for his kids and his family and I can only imagine the reason why he would do something like that was because he would want somebody to do something like that for his kids."


Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/news/artic...#ixzz1qsLTwB00

http://militarytimes.com/valor/army-...eichel/6568133
http://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/local_n...in-afghanistan
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...n_1388153.html


This is a huge story out here in Providence. Sad that his children are now alone without him but he did the right thing. A contrast to the news of the recent Afghan massacre.

[Sharon]

Touching story

[luton loyal]

[virginofmenace]

I would bet that there are many stories such as this that go untold for 2 reasons , 1) The Military doesn't toot their own horn as a rule .
2) These type stories don't fit the news medias template as to what the Military is .

[Nite]

vale

[Blu]

Nice to hear, anyways.

[Azimuth]

Originally Posted by virginofmenace

I would bet that there are many stories such as this that go untold for 2 reasons , 1) The Military doesn't toot their own horn as a rule .
2) These type stories don't fit the news medias template as to what the Military is .

That's true, they're just "doing their job", so to speak. There are MANY unsung heros in the military, I'd say almost all of them could be considered that.

[Dynamo47]

Well one thing I can say to the children is that their dad was a hero and saved someone's life. It will be of little consolation but someday they will appreciate the sacrifice he made.

[ices]

What makes me laugh is the following;

- Taleban IEDs injuring/killing afghan civilains who are then medevac'd to a nearby coalition airbase but die either enroute or on the table.

WHo is to blame? Why the coalition ofcourse!

- We treat taleban members on the table because "they're poor unedcuated souls".......?

The poorest uneducated person in the world knows right from wrong, they're just out for a easy fix of kill the western looking guy. Put a cheap bullet in their head rather than waste my fuckign taxes on their health.

No wonder we haven't been able to crush these cunts, we're too soft.

A few hundred years ago a muslim army terrorised a kingdom, forgot which it was now though. The king ordered his generals to capture as many of them as possible and bury them in pig skins.

They didn't come back for more I can tell you that.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by ices

What makes me laugh is the following;

- Taleban IEDs injuring/killing afghan civilains who are then medevac'd to a nearby coalition airbase but die either enroute or on the table.

WHo is to blame? Why the coalition ofcourse!

- We treat taleban members on the table because "they're poor unedcuated souls".......?

The poorest uneducated person in the world knows right from wrong, they're just out for a easy fix of kill the western looking guy. Put a cheap bullet in their head rather than waste my fuckign taxes on their health.

No wonder we haven't been able to crush these cunts, we're too soft.

A few hundred years ago a muslim army terrorised a kingdom, forgot which it was now though. The king ordered his generals to capture as many of them as possible and bury them in pig skins.

They didn't come back for more I can tell you that.

Exactly we have to adhere to the rules of engagement whilst those filthy sand dwellers don't have any rules, I don't think we would get away with cutting fucking heads off, if they catch one of ours are they gonna treat his fucking wounds? you already know the answer to that.