Romanian soldier killed in Afghanistan receives highest honours (Jun 23, 2006)

Jun 23, 2006 (Romania Report - ROMPRES)

Yesterday night, the body of corporal Ionel Ghoerghita Dragusanu—who was killed in action in Afghanistan—was brought by a C130 Hercules at the Mihail Kogalniceanu military airport, Eastern Romania.

Romania’s President Traian Basescu, PM Calin Popescu-Tariceanu, Defense Minister Teodor Atanasiu, Chief of General Staff Eugen Badalan, and the Presidential Security Advisor Sergiu Medar attended the military honours and the religious service.

Ionel Dragusanu received the 2nd Lieutenant post-mortem military rank and the President Basescu honoured him with the ‘Romania’s Star’ Order.

President Basescu asked the dead military’s daughter for forgiveness. “Probably, we—those at a mature age—understand better what happened. Maybe Diana Dragusanu—Ionel Dragusanu’s child—as she is but 12 years old can’t understand why her father did not came back home. Diana, I thank you and your mother and we pray you to forgive us,” Basescu said in a highly emotional state.

President Basescu remembered that he was in Afghanistan when the Romanian ‘White Sharks’ battalion just arrived in the Kandahar base and that he wished them to return home safe and sound. “I have expressed my hope, but we all knew that their mission will be a dangerous one. Each time a Romanian soldier is killed in action while fulfilling his duty we have the feeling that a little part of our soul remained there. Dragusanu died on duty while defending the honour and Romania’s interests,” Basescu also said.

President Basescu post-mortem conferred Ionel Dragusan the ‘Romania’s Star’ Order—the Knight Rank for militaries—and Diana Dragusanu kept the Star at her chest during the military ceremony and religious service.

As a token of homage, the U.S. Military Attaché in Bucharest handed to Dragusanu’s wife the American flag.

Ionel Dragusanu died last Tuesday, while returning to the base. Dragusanu was sited in the vehicle in front of a patrolling Romanian convoy. At about 20 kilometres out of Kandahar the vehicle drove over a hand-made bombing device. Other four military were wounded in the blast.

Dragusanu and the other four soldiers were part of 341st infantry battalion, which is scheduled to end its mission to Afghanistan at the beginning of next month.

The incident brought the death toll of Romanian troops that lost their life in Afghanistan to four and heated talks about the presence of the troops in the Middle East. Romania has about 900 troops in Afghanistan and 800 in Iraq.



Romania Report – according to ROMPRES