Tentpegs

I blogged over at patrickmead.net about Aaron Fairbairn, the soldier killed a few days ago in Afghanistan when an Islamofascist drove a truck bomb into an Army base. Also killed was another young soldier who has just been identified. I know I just posted a blog here yesterday and a new one at my other blog, but it is important to take a moment to recognize a real hero when the rest of the world is going nuts over a dead man who liked to wear lipstick, sleep with young boys (touching or not touching… it’s still wrong), etc.

Remember this young man:

Justin Casillas, 19, of Dunnigan, graduated from Pierce High School last year, according to American Legion member Larry Schapiro. He was a paratrooper with the U.S. Army’s 509th Airborne out of Alaska. His grandfather, Joe Casillas Sr., served in the Pacific theater in World War II, and his father, Joe Jr., served in the Air Force in the Vietnam War.

Justin’s mother, Donna, left for Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to collect his remains. Joe Jr. said they would be back Sunday.

“I don’t know how to explain this … but I’m proud of him, and I want to celebrate him,” Joe Jr. said. “We talked a little bit about this, before he went over … he wanted to do his part.”

Joe Jr. said Casillas had been in Afghanistan for four months. Casillas’ unit, Joe Jr. said, is the same one from which Taliban insurgents kidnapped a soldier on Tuesday.

The death comes amid heavier fighting in eastern Paktika province, according to the Associated Press. A battle on Saturday killed at least 10 militants, according to a statement from the the NATO-led force. Troops detained one militant, it said. The discrepancy in the militant death tolls could not immediately be reconciled.

During the battle, an insurgent drove a truck filled with explosives and gravel toward the gates of the U.S. base, Zawak said. When the driver did not heed warnings to stop, troops opened fire on the truck, which exploded, he said.