Thank you, Sgt. Conrad, for defending our freedom
Let us not begin this, another beautiful summer day in America, without first taking a moment to remember one of Arizona’s finest.
Army Staff Sgt. Alexander Conrad was killed on Friday in Somalia, cut down in a firefight with al Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabaab extremists.
Four other U.S. soldiers were wounded. One soldier in the Somali-Kenyon coalition forces also was killed.
We don’t yet know much about Sgt. Conrad, but we know enough.
We know that he was 26 years old, a resident of Chandler.
We know that he joined the Army right out of high school, and that he served twice in Afghanistan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. We know that he was a human intelligence non-commissioned officer assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group, based in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
We know that he had a chest full of medals and the heart of a soldier, one willing to serve and to die, if necessary, for something bigger than himself.
He was in Africa as part of Operation Octave Shield, working to defeat terrorism. I wonder how many of us even knew we had troops in Somalia?
“Our strategy in East Africa is to build partner capacity to ensure that violent extremist organizations, who wish harm in the region, wish harm on the European continent, and ultimately wish to harm the United States, are contained,” said Marine Corps Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, commander of the U.S. Africa Command. “Simply put, we’re working to prevent atrocious acts before they come to fruition.”
On Friday, about 800 Somali and Kenyan forces, with the support of U.S. troops, were working to liberate villages from al-Shabaab control as part of an effort “to increase the span of Federal Government of Somalia security and governance,” U.S. African Command said in a statement.
U.S. troops were providing surveillance and assistance during the operation in Jubaland, southwest of Mogadishu, on Friday afternoon, when they came under mortar and small-arms fire.
Sgt. Conrad’s death is a reminder that still today, as always, we have men and women who serve at the sharp end.
We don’t know much about them, but we know enough to be grateful, that there are men and women such as these.
We owe it to them, at the start of another beautiful summer day in America, to remember.
And to say: Thank you.
RIP, Sgt. Conrad.