"I looked after my family, I served my country....I have no regrets."Nishan Keerthiratne, 35, joined the Sri Lanka army in 1990. After nearly 16 years of proud service to the nation, this valiant soldier was injured by an enemy IED which was placed on a tree in 2006. The bomb decimated the vehicle he was travelling in, and ripped through his spinal cord. The proud soldier is now bed ridden as he is paralyzed waist down.
The Associated Press interviewed him recently, with the intent of getting an interview which would tarnish the image of the army and exploit this soldiers condition. The intent of the AP reporter was to extract an 'anti-war' or 'anti-nationalistic' response from this servicemen.
When asked if he is depressed or regrets fighting for his country, the soldier responded:
"I looked after my family, I served my country....I have no regrets."
8 comments:
continuing from the previous thread...
GZL thanks.
In my belief the more they resist and try to defend viduthalthive it would be good for SLA, since it will allow SLA to kill maximum number of tigers. Is there any chance of our UAVs being used to spot the heavy weapons that are being moved and attacked using MI-24s?
These are real heroes of the country. Hats of to great people like these who were never after glory and fame, never got involved with corruption etc. He is still serving the country like he always did.
Sad that people like this are not properly looked after if that is indeed the case.
Isn't it unfair to give a prmotion to an army soldier who brought fame to the country by engaging is sports and completely forget about thousands of heroes who have paid with their life to rid this country of terrorism, it's greatest enemy.
Everybody wants some PR mileage... what's right is the last thing on their minds...truly sad
Onceinawhile -
The MI24 effectively engaged retreating tigers boats yesterday. Two such boats were reported destroyed.
Keep in mind that Sri Lanka Air Force has limited resources, we can't keep 'bird' in the air to engage the enemy as the need arises. Most of the time, support is called in by ground troops or navy and the Air Force MI24's respond from Anu AFB.
Ranil - what is great of this village boy turned soldier is his ability to understand and respond to the reporter with his nation in mind.
On the other hand, we have many Colombo politicians selling our country and betraying her to the media at any oppurtunity that avails.
GZL
agreed, but some folks don't see that these "politicians" are actually from both sides of the fence.
Some folks like to blame everything on RW...he's the best scape goat but the the real problem lies deeper and is much much bigger. Our folks as usual like to blame it on "somebody" just to satisfy themselves... sad indeed.
On war front... i heard that hinds stumbling upon these boats were by chance thanks to a UAV sent into recon the area..
Maybe this is a new development that SLAF is sending UAV's as ops are going on so that they can take on the retreating ltte'rs...
whichever way...great job :)
Ranil -
I would like to keep this blog a-political and for defence analysis only.
However, I do agree with you. These vultures are on both sides of the fence. Their patriotism is only dependent on the election results. As you said, the issue is deeper than the eye can see. At the end of the day, we must blame ourselves as voters!
But one must admit, Ranil can never conduct a war to the same effectiveness as this government has. Would we be in this position of strength if it wasn't for the current polico-military strategy?
Our Pride; They are our Heroes
can i pls use this story in my flicker site with the below image
http://www.flickr.com/photos/inild/1451543956/
Thanks
The day will soon come and Sri Lanka has waited long time to rid itself of the LTTE menace. Finally that day is at hand soon. When victory is declared and peace is restored to the Sri Lanka I have no doubt who we should thank from the bottom of our hearts it is these brave valiant soldiers ready to pay the ultimate price for peace. My heart and profound gratitude goes out to the disabled soldiers. May we look after them. And ensure they have Food, Shelter and their families are well looked after after they leave the army like this brave but now disabled soldier. Our profound gratitude from people who love sri lanka and want peace returned to this wonderful Island!
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