'He's gone on to his next mission'

Image courtesy: WPTY-TV

"Most people don't get to do what they want to do in life. Most people don't get to die doing what they want to do in life, and he did what he wanted to do."

That quote, obtained by Memphis TV station WPTY-TV, comes from Pamela Finnie. She is grieving the death of her son, Staff Sgt. Daniel Merriweather, who gave his life on Wednesday at Combat Outpost McClain in Afghanistan. A fellow soldier, 21-year-old Pfc. Geoffrey Whitsitt, was also killed in the IED attack.

In the Eyewitness News story, Finnie recalls a conversation she had with her 25-year-old son during his third deployment to a war zone.

"We were talking and he told me, he wasn't going to make it back this time,” she said. “It was different. He just knew. He just knew that he wasn't going to make it back."

A roadside bomb hit his humvee, killing him instantly.

“Daniel's not the kind to stand still and suffer,” Finnie said. “He's gone on to his next mission.”

Merriweather, who is originally from Collierville, Tennessee, leaves behind a wife and two little boys, who live near North Carolina's Fort Bragg. Let's make sure this brave soldier's story is told so there is no doubt those two children grow up knowing their father was an American hero.