Friday, June 06, 2008

Georgians KIA in Iraq Parts Two and Three: PFC Diego Fernando Rincon and PFC Michael Creighton Weldon


Army Pfc. Diego Fernando Rincon

19, of Conyers, Ga.; assigned to 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.; killed in a suicide car-bombing near Najaf, Iraq. Died: March 29, 2003

"Diego Rincon was inspired to fight for his adopted homeland following the brutal attacks of September 11. . . . The suicide attack that took Diego's life at Al-Najaf was the first of its kind during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Diego Rincon was awarded posthumous citizenship in a gesture that inspired national law." From My Country to Defend, a book by A. E. Dimond about PFC Rincon, who was born in Colombia.




Army Pfc. Michael Russell Creighton Weldon, 20, of Conyers, Ga.; assigned to 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.; killed in a suicide car-bombing near Najaf, Iraq. Died: March 29, 2003
While other soldiers lost their lives in that suicide bombing, PFCs Rincon and Weldon were the two who had Georgia listed as their home state, although many sites list Palm Bay, FL as PFC Weldon's home state. It appears that he lived in Conyers, but was actually from Palm Bay. Pfc. Weldon followed in the footsteps of his mother, Sgt. Maj. Jean Weldon, who recently retired from the military.


As I post these profiles, it makes me sick how these soldiers were lied to. PFC Rincon joined up because of the September 11 attacks. At the time of his death, the country was actively being deceived by the Bush Administration that there was a link between Saddam Hussein and those attacks. All the medals in the world won't make up for the fact that these young men died because of Bush's lies. That doesn't take away from their bravery and service, but it sure does piss me off!

Related: Inspiration, Part One

2 comments:

Dr. Know said...

I feel your rage. I've been raving since 1998 about the BushCo/PNAC/NeoCon regime, but no one wanted to hear it... then.

liberalandproud said...

If only this country had paid attention to Eisenhower all those years ago, when he arned us about the military-industrial complex.