Sgt Dennis P. Weichel Jr
Sgt. Dennis P. Weichel Jr., 29, of Providence, R.I., died March 22 in Laghman province, Afghanistan, from injuries suffered in a noncombat related incident. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 143rd Infantry Regiment, 56th Troop Command, Rhode Island National Guard, East Greenwich, R.I. He was a member of the National Guard since 2001 and was deployed to Iraq in 2005. Dennis died saving the life of a little girl.
According to the U.S. Army, Weichel was in a convoy with his unit in Laghman Province, in northeast Afghanistan. Some children were in the road in front of the convoy, and Weichel and other troops got out to move them out of the way.
Most of the children moved, but one little girl went back to pick up some brass shell casings in the road. Afghan civilians often recycle the casings, and the girl appeared to aim to do that. But a Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicle was moving toward her.
MRAPs, as they are known, usually weigh more than 16 tons.
Weichel saw the massive truck bearing down on the girl and grabbed her out of the way. But in the process, the armored truck ran him over, Riel said.
The little girl is fine. Weichel died a short time later of his injuries.
To be updated…
The Sgt Dennis P. Weichel Jr by Freedom Remembered, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
Sgt. Dennis Weichel is just one of many American heroes to serve in the Afghanistan theater of operations. It is such heroism and uncommon courage that should be held in the highest regard. Sgt. Weichel’s memory will be honored for saving the life of an Afghan girl while sacrificing his own humanity.
Our sincere condolences and thoughts go out to the family he left behind.