Tech. Sgt. Jeremy T. Lock/US Air Force U.S. Army Pfc. Jacob Paxson and Pfc. Antonio Espiricueta, both from Company B ("Death Dealers"), 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, attached to Task Force 1st Battalion, 35th Armored Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, provide security from a street corner during a foot patrol in Tameem, Ramadi, Iraq.
- Barakat Ali Bashar, an Iraqi interpreter who served alongside the US Army, lost his life when he used his body to shield a US Special Forces soldier from a suicide bomber.
- As he was dying, he made only one request, that the US military take care of his son and his wife, according to a new report from Stars and Stripes.
- Bashar's family has been living in fear in a refugee camp in Iraqi Kurdistan since the Islamic State overran their home.
- US Special Forces troops have been writing letters and petitions in support of the family's visa application since 2015, but the family has yet to receive a visa.
The last words of a heroic Iraqi interpreter who sacrificed himself to save American soldiers from a suicide bomber were: "Take care of my son. Take care of my wife." US Special Forces troops are now fighting to honor that dying request.
When a suicide bomber detonated his vest during a vehicle inspection near the Syrian border in September 2007, Barakat Ali Bashar put himself between the bomber and then-Staff Sgt. Jay McBride. Bashar, a new father of only a week, was critically wounded in the attack, and he died at a military hospital in Mosul.
Bashar "had dozens of ball bearings in his body causing injuries that nobody could have survived," McBride, a former medic, told Stars and Stripes, adding, "I owe him my life."
Bashar, described as "kind of young and a little more western than your typical Iraqi," served as an interpreter for US Special Forces fighting Al Qaeda in northern Iraq. After his death, his family received some financial compensation from the US government, but they remained in Iraq, a country later overrun by the Islamic State.
The family, already a target because of their Yazidi heritage, was also in danger because of Bashar's work with the US military. They fled their home near Mount Sinjar, leaving behind their personal possessions and all evidence Bashar had served with the US Army, and headed to a refugee camp in Kurdistan, where they still live today. Bashar's family emailed Stars and Stripes and revealed that they live in constant fear.
One of the problems encountered during the visa application process was the lack of proof that Bashar had served with the US military. The family has since obtained written proof that Bashar "was declared dead in a U.S. Army hospital and he was an interpreter who served with [U.S. forces]." They are awaiting a follow-up interview with the State Department.
McBride and other US veterans have been writing letters and petitions in support of the family's special visa application since 2015. "Is this how you treat a family of someone who worked five years with the U.S. Army; someone who was loyal to the U.S. and Iraq; someone who gave his life serving with U.S. Army soldiers and trying to protect them?" McBride told Stars and Stripes, adding that he would happily put the family up at his house if that was an option.
Bashar "never faltered in his commitment to help American forces, even after his family was threatened and their names were placed on a list that was circulated around the region describing him as a traitor for supporting American forces," Sgt. 1st Class Michael Swett, another Special Forces soldier, wrote in support of the family. "He believed in the American dream even more than we did. Unfortunately, [Bashar] never realized his opportunity to see the country that he sacrificed so much for."
"We, the people of the United States of America, put this family at risk and I feel it is our duty as a civilized nation to [ensure] their safety," Army Master Sgt. Todd West wrote in a separate letter.