Soldier told sister: 'It's starting to get crazy'
Source: Agencies |
February 27, 2012, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A US soldier killed during protests in Afghanistan had talked with relatives about the backlash over the burning of Qurans at a US military base shortly before he died.
Corporal T.J. Conrad, who was promoted posthumously to sergeant, was one of two military police officers killed on Thursday by an Afghan soldier amid rising anti-American sentiment.
The bodies of Conrad and Sergeant Joshua Born, 25, both assigned to the Army's Fort Stewart in Georgia, were returned to Dover Air Force Base on Saturday.
Conrad's oldest sister, Amanda Meland, said he was in good spirits when she chatted with him via Skype on Wednesday.
"He was doing good. He had his chin up," she said.
She added: "He did say that things were starting to get crazy from the backlash."
Conrad, the father of a seven-month-old baby, deployed to Afghanistan in January. He would have celebrated his 23rd birthday on March 6.
Meland said Conrad's widow, Holly, was not at the couple's house when military officials initially came to notify her of his death.
"They had come earlier, but she was not there. She had actually just mailed out his birthday package," she said.
Meland said the deaths of had left both families devastated. "You see it on TV, you see it in the movies, but you just never expect it's going to be your family or your soldier," she said.
Corporal T.J. Conrad, who was promoted posthumously to sergeant, was one of two military police officers killed on Thursday by an Afghan soldier amid rising anti-American sentiment.
The bodies of Conrad and Sergeant Joshua Born, 25, both assigned to the Army's Fort Stewart in Georgia, were returned to Dover Air Force Base on Saturday.
Conrad's oldest sister, Amanda Meland, said he was in good spirits when she chatted with him via Skype on Wednesday.
"He was doing good. He had his chin up," she said.
She added: "He did say that things were starting to get crazy from the backlash."
Conrad, the father of a seven-month-old baby, deployed to Afghanistan in January. He would have celebrated his 23rd birthday on March 6.
Meland said Conrad's widow, Holly, was not at the couple's house when military officials initially came to notify her of his death.
"They had come earlier, but she was not there. She had actually just mailed out his birthday package," she said.
Meland said the deaths of had left both families devastated. "You see it on TV, you see it in the movies, but you just never expect it's going to be your family or your soldier," she said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
