Lebanese rescuer 'Green Helmet' injured

Indian_Eyess · August 17th, 2006, 01:48 AM

Lebanese rescuer 'Green Helmet' injured
By KATHY GANNON, Associated Press Writer Tue Aug 15, 6:47 PM ET

TYRE, Lebanon - A civil defense worker who has drawn controversy for holding up the bodies of children killed in Lebanon said Tuesday he was lightly injured fighting a weekend fire sparked by an Israeli bomb.

Salam Daher, dubbed the Green Helmet for the color of his civil defense headgear, said he was hit by debris Sunday when a bomb or missile fell on a building while he was helping to battle a fire at a gas station in the port city of Tyre.

"I fell over when the bomb hit, and I got some scratches from debris that flew up on my face," he said.

The 20-year veteran civil defense worker said he shows dead children to photographers to make clear that Israeli airstrikes killed young Lebanese during the monthlong conflict. Some Internet bloggers have accused him of setting up photos and of treating the dead insensitively.

In one photograph, taken after an Israeli airstrike hit a building in the village of Qana, Daher held a dead infant over his head. The boy's blue pacifier was pinned to his nightshirt.

"I did hold the baby up, but I was saying 'look at who the Israelis are killing. They are children,'" Daher said. "These are not fighters. They have no guns. They are children, civilians they are killing.' "

He said he had no regrets and he made no apologies. "I wanted people to see who was dying. They said they were killing fighters. They killed children."

After the photograph taken at the July 30 Qana strike, which killed 29 people, Daher has found himself under attack, accused of being a propagandist for Hezbollah guerrillas.

One Web site posted video purporting to show Daher arranging to have the body of a child taken off an ambulance and displayed for photographers.

Daher has lived in Tyre since 1996, and was among rescue workers who helped the wounded and removed the dead after an Israeli missile slammed into a U.N. compound in 1996, killing 106 people. At that time, he was photographed holding a mutilated baby.

Daher, now 39, said he doesn't care what was said about him.

"I do my job, and I take many risks for my job, to help people. This is what I do," he said. "When I am rescuing people or taking dead bodies out I try not to think with my heart because then it is very hard for me. But sometimes it is too much, when I see many people or many children.

"I tell you there are many faces that will always be in my mind," Daher said.

Head of Operations for the Lebanese Civil Defense in Tyre, Salam Daher, 39, sits to be photographed in the town of Tyre in southern Lebanon Friday, Aug. 11, 2006. Salam Daher's green-helmeted head digging beneath bombed out buildings to retrieve the dead has been seen in news photographs from two wars, in 1996 and again in 2006, both times after Israeli bombings in the village of Qana. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060815/...t_green_helmet

SharpenedMango · August 18th, 2006, 04:45 PM

Out of tragedy are born heroes......
What a brave guy....

Indian_Eyess · August 19th, 2006, 12:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SharpenedMango

Out of tragedy are born heroes......
What a brave guy....

lovestick · August 19th, 2006, 01:01 AM

what is there to discuss exactly?

Indian_Eyess · August 19th, 2006, 01:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lovestick

what is there to discuss exactly?

in response to the earlier thread, Hezbollywood.

lovestick · August 19th, 2006, 01:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Indian_Eyess

in response to the earlier thread, Hezbollywood.

why wasn't this posted there?

Indian_Eyess · August 19th, 2006, 01:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lovestick

why wasn't this posted there?

cuz it pretty much died.

lovestick · August 19th, 2006, 01:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Indian_Eyess

cuz it pretty much died.

Right. Replying=revival.

August 17th, 2006, 01:48 AM	#1
Indian_Eyess Banned Join Date: Mar 16 2005 Location: Memphis, TN, USA Posts: 7,481 Reputation: 10 --> Rep Power: 0 Casino cash: $1000	Lebanese rescuer 'Green Helmet' injured Lebanese rescuer 'Green Helmet' injured By KATHY GANNON, Associated Press Writer Tue Aug 15, 6:47 PM ET TYRE, Lebanon - A civil defense worker who has drawn controversy for holding up the bodies of children killed in Lebanon said Tuesday he was lightly injured fighting a weekend fire sparked by an Israeli bomb. Salam Daher, dubbed the Green Helmet for the color of his civil defense headgear, said he was hit by debris Sunday when a bomb or missile fell on a building while he was helping to battle a fire at a gas station in the port city of Tyre. "I fell over when the bomb hit, and I got some scratches from debris that flew up on my face," he said. The 20-year veteran civil defense worker said he shows dead children to photographers to make clear that Israeli airstrikes killed young Lebanese during the monthlong conflict. Some Internet bloggers have accused him of setting up photos and of treating the dead insensitively. In one photograph, taken after an Israeli airstrike hit a building in the village of Qana, Daher held a dead infant over his head. The boy's blue pacifier was pinned to his nightshirt. "I did hold the baby up, but I was saying 'look at who the Israelis are killing. They are children,'" Daher said. "These are not fighters. They have no guns. They are children, civilians they are killing.' " He said he had no regrets and he made no apologies. "I wanted people to see who was dying. They said they were killing fighters. They killed children." After the photograph taken at the July 30 Qana strike, which killed 29 people, Daher has found himself under attack, accused of being a propagandist for Hezbollah guerrillas. One Web site posted video purporting to show Daher arranging to have the body of a child taken off an ambulance and displayed for photographers. Daher has lived in Tyre since 1996, and was among rescue workers who helped the wounded and removed the dead after an Israeli missile slammed into a U.N. compound in 1996, killing 106 people. At that time, he was photographed holding a mutilated baby. Daher, now 39, said he doesn't care what was said about him. "I do my job, and I take many risks for my job, to help people. This is what I do," he said. "When I am rescuing people or taking dead bodies out I try not to think with my heart because then it is very hard for me. But sometimes it is too much, when I see many people or many children. "I tell you there are many faces that will always be in my mind," Daher said. Head of Operations for the Lebanese Civil Defense in Tyre, Salam Daher, 39, sits to be photographed in the town of Tyre in southern Lebanon Friday, Aug. 11, 2006. Salam Daher's green-helmeted head digging beneath bombed out buildings to retrieve the dead has been seen in news photographs from two wars, in 1996 and again in 2006, both times after Israeli bombings in the village of Qana. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060815/...t_green_helmet

August 18th, 2006, 04:45 PM	#2
SharpenedMango Should I Consider Retiring??? Join Date: Dec 15 2004 Location: /Hic Sunt Dracones\ Posts: 7,403 Reputation: 38847838 --> Rep Power: 3884831 Casino cash: $1903	Out of tragedy are born heroes...... What a brave guy.... __________________

August 19th, 2006, 01:01 AM	#4
lovestick Should I Consider Retiring??? Join Date: Jun 28 2005 Location: ca Posts: 6,648 Reputation: 3596 --> Rep Power: 402 Casino cash: $465	what is there to discuss exactly? __________________

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