Mr Dominic Nitiwul, Minister for Defence, says Ghana must emulate the United States in the way that it honoured its fallen heroes in order to encourage others to give their best to the nation.
Speaking to the media after a memorial ceremony organised by the US Embassy in Ghana, in honour of Private First Class (PFC) Emmanuel Owusu Mensah, Mr Nitiwul said the organisation of the memorial by the Embassy showed how much the United States cherished the sacrifice that the young soldier made.
“I think it’s one of the lessons that we should learn; that every sacrifice, be it small or big, should be appreciated by the nation, then people will give up their best when called upon,” he noted.
Mr Nitiwul said when people were not recognised when they paid the ultimate sacrifice; it did not motivate or inspire others to do same.
He said although Ghana’s Armed Forces had that practice, there was the need to emulate it in all the security services as well as the Ghanaian public.
PFC Mensah lost his life in what has been described as one of the deadliest fires in New York City on December 28th, 2017 when after safely exiting the burning building, he went back four times into the Bronx apartment where he lived, to rescue other residents who were trapped in the burning building.
On his fourth trip back into the inferno, he was overcome by the thick smoke and lost his life.
The memorial was attended by family of PFC Mensah, the Ambassador and staff of the US Embassy, government officials and representatives of Ghana’s security services.
PFC Mensah was the third of five children. He was born on 11 April, 1991 in Accra to Kwabena Mensah and the late Beatrice Owusu. He completed his primary and middle school studies in Accra between 1997 and 2006 he studied mechanical engineering at the Saint Paul’s Technical School in the Eastern region from 2006 to 2009 and enrolled in Information Technology at IPMC.
He migrated to the US in 2012, worked for American Airline from 2013 through 2017 and joined the US Army in December 2017. He was home for the holidays prior to reporting for duty at the 107th Military Police Company of the New York Army National Guard when the fire, caused by a three-year old playing with a stove in one of the apartments, broke out.
Source: Ghanaweb