 People's Daily Online -- Romanian President Traian Basescu signed on Friday a decree by which Second Lieutenant Dumitru Ioan Grosaru was posthumously awarded "Romanian Star" Order in rank of Knight for military with war insignia.
According to the Presidential Administration, the order was awarded for the excellent devotion he proved during a mission in the operations theater in Iraq.
The 35-year old Grosaru died on Friday morning after an amphibious armored personnel carrier on a mission to southern Iraq was damaged. Other five Romanian military were wounded.
According to the Defense Ministry, the amphibious armored personnel carrier was carrying out a patrol mission near the Tallil military base, when it caught fire following the blast of an improvised explosive device.
This is the second tragic incident that has occurred to Romanian troops in Iraq. The last one was on Sept. 11, when two Romanian officers from the NATO mission of training the Iraqi forces were wounded in a missile attack on base Camp Victory near Baghdad.
Romania has 1,612 soldiers deployed abroad, with about 600 in Iraq and the rest in Afghanistan and Kosovo. |
Sir, I would like to say thank you for your service and sacrifice for Romania. And to your family and loved ones, I wish to extend my deepest sympathy. The United States is lucky to have an ally such as your Country in its time of need.
A grateful American