Image courtesy: WOOD-TVJamie Beachnaw became worried when her younger brother didn't reply to a Facebook message. She had kept in close contact with him during his second deployment to Afghanistan. Soon after her concerns surfaced, she would learn Sgt. Lucas Beachnaw was killed Wednesday in a firefight.
The Grand Rapids Press reports the 23-year-old squad leader was on patrol in Darya Ya when a battle with insurgents broke out. The article quotes the fallen hero's father, Kevin:
"Being from a military family, I knew ...," he said, choking up.
The [U.S. Army representative] told him his 23-year-old son, Sgt. Lucas Beachnaw with the 173rd Airborne Infantry, had been killed Wednesday in Afghanistan in small arms fire.
"I can't stop crying," the father said Thursday from his Charlotte area home. "I feel like my eyes are burning."
Another sister, Terra DeLong, told the newspaper the Lowell, Michigan, soldier's final visit to his country was in July for her wedding. DeLong said she moved the date so her brother could attend.
Embedded below is Jamie Beachnaw's heartbreaking interview with WOOD-TV, where she shows the locket she wears to always keep her little brother close to her heart. I found this quote particularly moving:
"Appreciate the sacrifice," Beachnaw said. "Realize that it's not just a name in the paper or a face somewhere, it's an actual son, brother, uncle, or friend."
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