Muslim
Americans Are as Loyal as Other Citizens
By Dr Manzer J.Durrani
US
Here is the picture of Capt.Saqib
Khan, Shaheed, a loyal Muslim citizen of the USA,
who died for this nation. Please let others in
the community know that Muslims in America are
as loyal as other citizens and have sacrificed
their best and their brightest for its defense.
Several others from our community are in the forefront.
One of my friend’s son, Saifee, has been
serving in the Marines in Tikrit for the last
two years.
A 'Peacemaker' Is Laid to Rest
By Michele Clock
Army Captain Humayun Khan tried to reassure his
parents in Prince William County, Maryland, that
he was safe -- even though attacks on his base
in Baquba, Iraq, were almost constant.
"Whenever I talked to him, I started to cry,"
said his mother, Ghazala Khan, 52. "He always
said to me, 'Don't worry. I'm safe.' "
The last time she spoke to her 27-year-old son
was Mother's Day, May 9. Yesterday, under the
hot midday sun, she and her husband, Khizr M.
Khan, 53, watched as their middle son was laid
to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.
Khan's was the 66th casualty of the Iraq war to
be buried on the cemetery's lush, manicured hills.
His flag-draped wood coffin was placed at the
end of a row of marble headstones.
On June 8, Khan died in a suicide car bombing
at the main gates of his base. Khan, an ordnance
officer with the Germany-based 201st Forward Support
Battalion, 1st Infantry Division, had watched
as several of his soldiers prepared to do a routine
vehicle inspection. His unit was charged with
the day-to-day security and maintenance of the
camp.
When an orange-colored taxi drove toward them,
Khan ordered his soldiers to "hit the dirt,"
said his father, who received details of his son's
death from his commanding officer.
Khan walked toward the car, motioning for it to
stop, his father said. A makeshift bomb inside
it exploded, killing him and two Iraqi civilians
in addition to the two suicide bombers. Ten soldiers
and six Iraqi citizens were also wounded, the
Army said.
Khan's father said he is proud of his son's courage
but is devastated by the loss.
"Where did his strength come from to face
such a danger instead of hiding behind a pole
or booth or something?" his father said.
"Normally we would try to hide. Had he done
that, there would be no problem at all. It may
have not been fatal."
Family members and friends -- including Khan's
girlfriend, Irene Auer, 24, of Amberg, Germany
-- have filled the Khans' Bristow home in the
past week, weeping and praying for the Muslim
soldier they will remember as helping to build
a bridge between the American and Iraqi people.
During his three months in Iraq, Khan helped put
Iraqi civilians to work for $5 an hour patrolling
the streets of Baquba under the U.S. Army, his
father said.
The program, dubbed the United States-Iraq Sponsorship
Program, was intended to help combat high unemployment
and provide the local population with security
and peace, his father said.
"He was always a peacemaker," Khizr
Khan said, "always seeing an opportunity
to give. He always said to the Iraqis, 'We're
here not to hurt you but to help you.' "
Auer said her boyfriend enjoyed taking responsibility
for others and always respected those around him.
"Whenever I was upset, he always found the
right words. He always calmed me down," she
said. "He was perfect. He was the most wonderful
person I've ever met."
Khan had hoped one day to go to the University
of Virginia law school, his father said. He wanted
to be a military lawyer and joined up four years
ago in part to pay for law school. His stint was
up last month, but because of the Army's efforts
to stem its manpower losses, he was assigned to
Iraq indefinitely.
Khan, who was born in the United Arab Emirates,
moved to Silver Spring at age 2. He graduated
from Kennedy High School in 1996 and the University
of Virginia in 2000. …(Courtesy Washington
Post)
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