‘On Independence Day, a few hours ago, they killed my son, Aaron in Afghanistan’

Aaron Fairbairn

By Salim Jiwa

It was an extraordinary tweet. Within hours it became the trending topic on social networking site Twitter.

“They killed my son, Aaron,” said the tweet sent out by David Masters of Olympia, Washington.

Then, one tweet at a time, he told the rest of the tragic story.

“He was minding his own business BS-ing with an Officer on base in Afghanistan…

“When a suicide bomber, driving a truck breached the perimiter and pushed the button…

“Killing my son, Aaron and the Officer,” he said

“On Independence Day, a few hours ago, they killed my son, Aaron in Afghanistan.”

“I’d like to see “Thank you, Aaron,” show up on the Trending Topics for giving his life on Independence Day in Afghanistan,” said Masters in a painful plea.

“Shelley, Beau and Sascha are enroute to Dover to meet Aaron’s body, given in service this Independence Day,” he added, recounting that his wife Shelley had gone to pick up his body.

I love you, Aaron,”  said Masters as tributes started coming in from all around the world.

“I’m so sorry, Aaron… You are MY hero… I love you,” added Masters, an author of two dieting books.

“Thank you a,ll so much for thanking Aaron, and thank you all for love and support… #thankyouaaron #1… amen.”

By the time the final tweet was sent, Masters’ wish had been fulfilled.

#ThankyouAaron, #Aaron and #Afghanistan had become the top trending topics on Twitter – and army of twitter followers by the tens of thousands were sending their condolences and love from every quarter of the U.S, Canada, Europe and the rest of the world.

Aaron Fairbairn, 20, was killed along with another officer during a suicide bombing attack against a U.S. outpost near Zirok, in Paktika province, in south-east Afghanistan by the Taliban.

Another seven U.S. soldiers and two Afghan troops were wounded in Saturday’s attack on the combat outpost near Zirok, Lieutenant Commander Christine Sidenstricker told Reuters.

The Department of Defense confirmed in a press release on Monday that Fairbairn and Pfc. Justin A. Casillas, 19, of Dunnigan, Calif. were killed when insurgents attacked the outpost at Zerok.

They were assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska, the army statement said.

David Masters, who started the Twitter scramble is Aaron’s step-dad. A family website says:

“ Since Dave and Shelley were married on September 18th, 1998, they brought with them, three children each into the new relationship. What they discovered was – not only that we had met our soulmate – but they had inadvertantly created a new version of The Brady Bunch.”

Aaron Fairbairn had a page on the social networking site MySpace.com. In it, he posted pictures of his activities in Afghanistan. One picture shows a small rocket. “Suck it Taliban” says a hand-painted sentence written on it in red.

On his MySpace.com page, Aaron wrote about his hobbies and posted pictures of his time in Aghanistan.

 
“Hey my name is Aaron Fairbairn, I am 20 and in the army. I like to ride dirtbikes, go muddin and all of that kind of stuff. One of my favorite things to do is work on my truck when I break it. I have a yamaha yz 125 I haven’t got to ride it much because of work but i plan to go race it sometime,” he said in his ‘about me’ page.

On Sunday, friends began writing messages on his page.

“Aaron i will miss you little brother Love you RIP,” wrote one.

“Aaron!  I’m so sorry! Tell me it’s not true!” said another.

In Afghanistan

Photo posted by Aaron Fairbairn on his myspace page.

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