This particularly moving sentiment by 1LT Benjamin P. Madonia was originally posted on legacy.com:
I am a Platoon Leader in the regular Army unit that patrols in the area near where Ryan lived and worked. I met him about two months ago, within weeks of each of us arriving in Baghdad. I have no idea what the work of an elite SF NCO entails, but he was helping me with a project that I am certain was not in his job description. We were arranging to have an old water purification system taken off of his compound to be given to the locals to purify their own water. He consistently made himself available to me, local Iraqis, and other officers from my Battalion to discuss the project, often sacrificing his own rest to meet our schedule. I once asked Ryan if there was a better time to come talk to him so I didn't have to keep waking him up and he said, "No, this is the best time to come because otherwise I won't be here." Ryan implored me to come visit while he should have been sleeping because he knew we wouldn’t be able to speak face to face otherwise.
My Battalion is now close to completing this project that will help provide the people of our area with clean drinking water. Although Ryan won’t be there on moving day, his selflessness and effort above and beyond his duty made this project possible, and made my assignment of coordinating it a lot simpler. I’m sure his real job was much more high speed, but his assistance on this project helped both me and the people of West Baghdad, and will not be soon forgotten. Thanks Ryan.
To Ryan’s Family: I know my sadness cannot compare to yours, but please know our thoughts and prayers are with you.
1LT Benjamin P. Madonia
2nd Platoon Leader
B/1-320th FAR
2BCT 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)
Benjamin Madonia (Baghdad, Iraq)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment