(MENAFN- The Post)
MASERU – FOR all his life in the military, Commando Private Mohale Khoaele would salute his superiors when called upon to do so.
But on Tuesday tables were turned.
Lying in a wooden box at the Meja-Metalana Military Airbase tarmac, it was Commando Private Khoaele's turn to receive the military salute from army commander, Lieutenant General Mojalefa Letsoela, and his fellow soldiers.
Commando Private Khoaele died in Mozambique last Saturday after a serious bout with malaria. He was part of a SADC contingency force fighting Islamist rebels.
He died of malaria. He was 32.
Commando Private Khoaele is the first Mosotho soldier to die abroad in war in over 70 years after hundreds who died during the Second World War.
A somber mood engulfed the Meja-Metalana Military Airbase as the plane carrying his remains hovered above in the skies.
The Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro was there to welcome the fallen soldier. Deputy Prime Minister Mathibeli Mokhothu, Police Commissioner Holomo Molibeli, and the Lesotho Correctional Service Commissioner Mating Nkakala, government ministers and the Leader of Opposition, Monyane Moleleki, were also there.
They had all come to pay their respects to a gallant son of the soil.
After the plane landed and his body was brought out for the parade, senior army, the police and LCS officers saluted him, while the Prime Minister and other dignitaries bowed their heads in respect.
The army band broke into a solemn Catholic hymn, Emmanuel Our Lord, a song that beseeched the Lord's intervention in moments of deep despair.
As the wooden box containing Commando Private Khoaele's remains was brought out of the plane, heavily armed Special Forces' immediately surrounded it.
In front of them was their leader who held their black special force flag high while walking slowly, in a slow march, towards the podium.
The special force, in which Commando Private Khoaele was a member, was quickly called to say their prayer and pledge together at the same time.
The red berets vowed to always be humble and always be prepared to face the enemy fearlessly.
Saluting their fallen comrade, the soldiers said they volunteered as special force members and would serve it under any circumstances.
“Day and night, I will never quit,” they said.
Lt Gen Mojalefa Letsoela said the soldier fell sick last Wednesday,“and on Thursday he was put under the close watch of doctors”.
He said Commando Private Khoaele's colleague who was also infected by malaria recovered quickly and continued with his job, adding that Commando Private Khoaele's recovery was slow.
“On Saturday he was transferred to a local hospital in Nangadi, he died on Saturday night,” he said.
He said the cause of death was malaria.
He said even though he did not die in battle, he died at war.
“We are located in a dense area where the mosquitoes are concentrated,” he said.
Lt Gen Letsoela said the soldier will be buried at Khutsong Military Cemetery“where heroes are buried”.
“We are making preparations to go and bury him the way he deserves, he fell on the line of duty,” the general said.
He said they vaccinated their soldiers against malaria.
“Mozambique requires us to vaccinate before going there.”
“We did not think a mosquito would kill us, we just thought of the enemy on the ground.”
Nkheli Liphoto
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