Mohsin Naqvi, Class of 2000

Submitted by Pauline Rute Hall 52 <GrammyPGH@aol.com> on 09/Jul/2009
74.243.1.68

Message:

           Mohsin Naqvi, of the Town of Newburgh NY. — A soldier from Newburgh has died this September 2008 in the fighting in Afghanistan, his family said. His name was Mohsin Naqvi, and he was a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army. Friends and relatives said they believed he was the first Muslim from the Hudson Valley to die fighting for United States during the war. Two officers came to Naqvi’s parents’ house Wednesday afternoon in the Town of Newburgh and told them Naqvi led a patrol Wednesday with four other United States soldiers when they struck a roadside bomb. All of them were killed instantly, Naqvi’s father, Nazar, said. An Army spokeswoman said she couldn’t confirm the information. It’s the Army’s policy to wait until 24 hours after families have been notified to confirm casualties, she said. In cases of multiple casualties, the Army waits until after officers have made the last notification. Friends and relatives gathered all evening Wednesday and on toward midnight at the home of Naqvi’s parents. He had graduated from Newburgh Free Academy and couldn’t wait to join the Army. Nazar persuaded him to go to college first. He had gone for two years by Sept. 11, 2001. He enlisted in the Army Reserve on Sept. 15, 2001, and served a tour in Iraq. He later earned a degree in computer science and enlisted in the Army. He married on June 16 and shipped out to Fort Benning, Ga., the next day. On June 29, he went to Afghanistan. Naqvi learned Urdu from his Pakistani-American parents while growing up in Newburgh. He used that knowledge as an interpreter in Afghanistan. He called home about every other day when not on missions. Nazar said he had spoken to his son on Tuesday, and Naqvi had put in for his two-week leave. Naqvi hoped to be home by March or April, in time for his 18-year-old brother Hassan’s spring break. Family members were still waiting for more information before planning funeral services.

COLONIE -- Mohsin Naqvi, a Muslim who joined the Army after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks and then died in an Afghanistan roadside bombing last week, was mourned by more than 100 people at a Central Avenue mosque today. Male mourners left the prayer room at the al-Fatima Islamic Center about 20 minutes before the start of the 1 p.m. ceremony so that the female members of the mosque could pay respects to Naqvi, who was 26 years old. The men gathered in the hall and bowed their heads in silence as wailing could be heard through the closed doors of the prayer room. Some of the women chanted Naqvi's first name. Naqvi joined the Army shortly after the terror attacks and hoped to bridge the divide between America and the Muslim world, friends and relatives say "Our message is we have chosen this country. We are going to live here. We are going to die here. We are going to contribute in every respect," said Haider Khwaja, the mosque's vice president. "He has sacrificed his life for the country." Naqvi was among four U.S. Army soldiers killed Sept. 17 when a roadside bomb exploded near their patrol in eastern Afghanistan. He died during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Naqvi grew up near Newburgh. He was born in Pakistan and came to the U.S. as a young child. The second lieutenant had joined the Army Reserve near Newburgh days after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and used his language skills to communicate with Afghans and reassure them about American intentions. His wife, Raazia, lives with his sister, Tasneem Ali, in Mechanicville. Six soldiers carried Naqvi's coffin into the mosque this afternoon as mourners filed in. Following Muslim tradition, the soldiers all removed their shoes before carrying Naqvi's casket into the al-Fatima Islamic Center. Once the casket was placed inside the mosque, Naqvi's brother, Hassan, 18, cried and kneeled before the coffin. The University at Albany pre-med student held his brother's military identification tags in his hands. "He was so full of energy, so happy. I have not seen people so happy, laughing all the time," family friend and mosque President Imdad Imam said, describing Naqvi and his wife, Raazia, at their wedding three months ago. Naqvi was deployed the next day. His funeral is being held at the same mosque where he was married. Naqvi graduated from Newburgh Free Academy and was a prominent member of the Mid-Hudson Islamic Association. His death comes during a spike in violence in Afghanistan, where the U.S. has sustained 122 deaths in 2008, more than any year since the U.S. first invaded in 2001. Naqvi was buried in Evergreen Memorial Park in Colonie. Mourners picked up the coffin from the back of the hearse and carried it 50 yards to the grave. Following Muslim custom, they sat it down three times and passed it along the line of men. Women sobbed as the soldier was carried to them. Soldiers fired a 21-gun salute and handed a folded American flag to Naqvi's widow. Men reached inside the coffin to clutch the shrouded body and pray. Family members grabbed handfuls of dirt to throw on the coffin and mourners picked up shovels to scoop up the earth. They clutched each other as the grave was covered.