BROOKLYN, NY, USA
U.S. Army
PV1, HHB 2D BATTALION 20TH FIELD ARTILLERY, FORT HOOD, TX 76544
BALAD, IRAQ 05/18/2003
Specialist Rasheed Sahib, 22, of New York, N.Y., was remembered by family and friends as a big-hearted guy who was hoping the military would be a stepping stone to a better life in America.
Sahib was killed in Iraq May 18 when another soldier’s gun discharged while he was cleaning it and the bullet struck him in the chest.
Sahib’s family came to the United States from Guyana in 1988, and his sister Nafeeza said he dreamed of going to college and becoming an FBI agent. “He did it (join the military) so it could help him more in life,” said Nafeeza, 18. “He really wanted the training.”
Sahib, who was nicknamed Smiley by his younger cousins and friends, joined the military nearly three years ago. He was assigned to the 20th Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, based at Fort Hood, Texas.
Sahib’s relatives and friends said they had not heard from him since he called in late March to let them know he was being deployed to the Middle East. They said he was scared of what lay ahead of him.
“He called me before he left and he told me how he was scared,” said Amitt Permaul, 18, Sahib’s best friend. “I was just asking his sister the other day, ‘When is he coming back, when is he coming back?'”
Sahib, a U.S. resident, expected to become a citizen following his return from overseas.