Our Latest American Hero #125

mohsinanaqvi
Originally uploaded by Randuwa

Army 1st Lt. Mohsin A. Naqvi, 26, of Newburgh, N.Y.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 11th Infantry, Fort Benning, Ga.; died Sept. 17 in Gerdia Seria, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device. Also killed was Sgt. Joshua W. Harris, Capt. Bruce E. Hays and Staff Sgt. Jason A. Vazquez.

"Family Recalls Soldier’s Patriotism"

WAPPINGERS FALLS — Nazar Naqvi’s son was not a Muslim soldier. He was a soldier who was a Muslim.

“First he was American,” he said of his son, Mohsin. “Then he was Muslim.”

The regular Friday prayer service at the Mid-Hudson Islamic Association on All Angels Hill Road paid special tribute Friday to Mohsin Naqvi, 26, of Newburgh, a second lieutenant with the U.S. Army.

He was among a group of five soldiers killed while on patrol in Afghanistan Wednesday. He leaves behind a 20-year-old wife, Raazia.

After Friday’s regular service, mosque members comforted Mohsin’s brother and father, and an imam led an informal prayer service specifically for the soldier.

Mohsin Naqvi had served a tour in Iraq before being deployed to Afghanistan, and family members said his Muslim faith was a constant source of taunting.

“He was being picked on any time they wanted,” his father said. “He still wanted to be in the Army.”

But Nazar Naqvi said he never questioned the allegiance of his son, who emigrated from Pakistan with the family when he was 8 and became a U.S. citizen at 16.

“When he came to this country, he took an oath to be loyal to the United States,” Nazar Naqvi said.

Hassan Naqvi, Mohsin’s younger brother, knelt at the Friday afternoon prayer service, Mohsin’s dog tag hanging from a chain around his neck, and wiped away a tear.

He called his brother “the most patriotic person I know.”

Mohsin Naqvi joined the Army reserves days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Once in Afghanistan, he would converse with prisoners of war in his native language, Urdu, but his common ground with the captured Taliban fighters ended there. The version of Islam they were preaching didn’t resemble his own, he told his family.

“As far as he was concerned, he wasn’t fighting against Muslims,” Hassan Naqvi said.

“Before he left for Af-ghanistan, I asked him if he was scared,” Hassan Naqvi said. “He said he wasn’t, because that was where he was needed most.”

After the service, Mohsin Naqvi’s uncle, Anwar Naqvi, said his nephew died defending against acts of terror and a violent interpretation of Islam the vast majority of Muslims denounce.

“I am proud that my nephew, he basically ...” Anwar Naqvi said, pausing to regain his composure and fight his tears to speak, “he laid down his life in the line of his duty. He was doing what he was supposed to do.”