In 2006, a young man from Ethiopia, Africa fulfilled a long held dream; he received his immigration papers to come to the United States of America. He came to America with three basic goals: 1) become a U.S. Citizen, 2) join the Army, and 3) receive a college degree. In his short life in America he achieved two of his three goals; he joined the Arizona Army National Guard and became a Citizen of the United States.
His National Guard unit was called to active duty and he spent 13 months as a part of the U.S. Army serving in Afghanistan. According to his Commander and fellow soldiers that I have talked with, he was well liked and served his new country with pride and dedication. He returned to Phoenix with the rest of his group in mid October 2009 to finish his college education and enjoy his well earned U.S. Citizenship.
The balance of this story is rather sketchy, but some valid assumptions can be made. The transition from active duty life to the freedoms of being a civilian can be a difficult transition and in many cases trigger the onset of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). Added to this were stories from friends that some people who lived in his neighborhood were taunting him because of his service to our nation in Afghanistan. No one will ever know why, but on February 23, 2010 he passed away. This is only the beginning of the sadness. His wish was that when he died he would be buried in his family’s home village in Ethiopia.
I received a call to help send his body home as he wished. I was told that he happened to fall into another “crack” that prevented the Arizona Army National Guard from transferring his body to Ethiopia and because he was not officially diagnosed with an illness associated with his deployment the Arizona Department of Veterans Services was unable to help. The airlines are requiring a minimum of $5,000 to ship his body home and no one can help. The local Phoenix Ethiopian community has be able to collect $2,500 to help with the cost of a casket and shipping container (cost $6,000) and his life insurance policy will not be settled for several months, if at all.
The purpose of this post is to inform as many people as possible about the tragic loss of this young “Patriot” and the tragic inability of our National Guard and State Veterans Services organization to help. If you would like to help fulfill this young man's, this Patriots, wish to be buried in his home village, you can go to any Wells Fargo Bank and donate. The account information needed is Routing #122105278, and Account #5510037764, or you can go to www.projectwermember.org click on donate and in the comments box add From Citizen, to Soldier, to laying in a Morgue. If you’d prefer, you can also donate on Facebook by using the “causes” application. More information is available at http://apps.facebook.com/causes/13319?m=8f7b51ff.
Vernon Bagley, Executive Director, Project “We Remember”