I just came across this, even though it has been out for awhile, and I wanted to post it on FJ as a dedication. Louis Maxwell should receive a medal for his actions. (The U.N. does have such a medal, and it is called the Dag Hammarskjold Medal.) His actions are an inspiration to us all. Rest in peace. –Matt
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UN guard killed in Afghanistan hailed as hero
By TAMARA LUSH
Oct 30, 2009
MIAMI — A United Nations security guard from Miami who died fighting Taliban attackers at a hotel in Afghanistan is being hailed as a hero by top U.N. staff for the lives he and another guard helped save.
Louis Maxwell, 27, and the other U.N. guard, Laurance Mefful of Ghana, held off the attackers for at least an hour, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Friday.
“They fought through the corridors of the building and from the rooftop,” Ban told the U.N. General Assembly. “They held off the attackers long enough for their colleagues to escape, armed only with pistols against assailants carrying automatic weapons and grenades and wearing suicide vests.”