Caporal Bogdan Hancu Died For a Foreign Cause - Killed in action in Iraq

A Romanian soldier of the Military Police Service was killed yesterday morning in Nassyria. Caporal Bogdan Hancu died at the age of 28.

An improvised explosive device blew up yesterday, at 8:30, local time, when a convoy of four Italian armored cars was heading towards Nassyria, in the South of Iraq. Caporal Bogdan Hancu, member of the Romanian Military Police, was in one of them. The Italian soldiers and their Romanian colleague were on a routine mission to monitor the Iraqi police stations. Right before arriving into the city, when the convoy was going up on a bridge, an explosive device blew up. Only one vehicle was seriously damaged, and the soldiers inside it died. The only Romanian in the patrolling convoy was inside it. Caporal Hancu and other three Italians died. Another Italian soldier is seriously injured. A Romanian patrol had passed by that place only 30 minutes before the incident. They came back from their mission safely. The rumor at Camp Mittica says the improvised device actually targeted the Italians.

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Bogdan Hancu is the first Romanian soldier killed in Iraq, where Romania has troops as member of the international coalition against terrorism. The Caporal was 28 years old and got married just before arriving to Camp Mittica near Nassyria. Right after the attack, the Italian soldiers and their Romanian colleagues at Camp Mittica prepared for the worst. This is the first time in the last two years when the members of the multinational coalition in this region of Iraq are the target of a terrorist attack.

SORROW IN THE FAMILY

The parents (former members of the army), the sister, the wife and the grandmother of Caporal Bogdan Hancu are devastated. They cannot believe Bogdan is not alive anymore. The news came like a thunder for them. Carmen Hancu, the mother of the soldier, hides her eyes behind her palms and tries to be powerful. She was waiting to see her son again this summer. Moreover, she wanted a granddaughter. She hardly stops her tears, says she didn’t agree with him leaving, and asks God why He took her son away: "He said he wanted to go on a mission, that’s all. He had everything. He went to Bucharest and passed all the tests. I know the meaning of the army, the meaning of a mission, but why did my son have to die", the aggrieved mother, a retired lieutenant colonel, wonders. The father is also very sad. The last time he talked to Bogdan, on the Saturday before the Easter, "he was ok and was getting ready to go to the ceremony. He wanted to go on with his studies and become an under-officer or an officer and he needed to go on a mission. Money does not represent a solid ground. They had all they wanted, him and his wife", Marcel Hancu, a retired colonel, says. Ionela Hancu, Bogdan’s wife, is in shock as well. They got married in October 2005. "I haven’t seen him since January". Now, she looks at the pictures and doesn’t stop from crying.

"HE HARDLY WAITED TO GET BACK HOME"

Bogdan, soldier hired with contract, was on his first mission. He left Iasi for Nassyria three months ago. "He hardly waited to get back home", Sergeant Major Eduard Balan, his roommate and one of his many friends, told us. Yesterday morning, Eduard and Bogdan ate breakfast together. There weren’t any premonitions. With tears in his eyes, Sergeant Major Balan prayed to God for the peace of the soul of his good mate. The body of the Caporal arrived at the little church at the base of the 280 Infantry Battalion yesterday afternoon. The coffin with the body was sent to Romania with a Hercules C-130.

Translated by Sorin Balan