Rodrigo Augusto da Silva, 1985 - 2010
(Brazil)
Third Sergeant Rodrigo Augusto da Silva, a national of Brazil, was deployed to the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) since July 2009.
Born in the town of Cachoeira Paulista, Rodrigo joined the Brazilian Army in March 2004.
A colleague said, “It is because of people like Rodrigo and the thousands of people who dedicate their lives to the cause of improving the lives of others, through the work of the United Nations, that our world has hope.”
A ceremony was held on 22 January at the Brasilia Air Base to honour Rodrigo and his fallen colleagues, which was attended by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and First Lady Marisa Letícia. President Lula called their work with MINUSTAH “the noblest humanitarian mission ever carried out by the Brazilian Armed Forces.”
Rodrigo and his colleagues posthumously received a promotion and the Peacemaker Medal from their country for outstanding acts of courage and bravery under lifethreatening circumstances.
Rodrigo was scheduled to fly to Brazil on 16 January and had told his wife of three years over the internet that “he couldn’t wait to see her and hold his daughters in his lap again.”
Rodrigo is survived by his wife Andrea, their two daughters and his parents Pedro and Rosania.