{"id":311,"date":"2010-05-28T11:02:22","date_gmt":"2010-05-28T11:02:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forcespenpals.net\/p=?311"},"modified":"2010-05-28T11:02:22","modified_gmt":"2010-05-28T11:02:22","slug":"soldier-hero-returns-to-sierra-leone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forcespenpals.net\/gb\/news\/soldier-hero-returns-to-sierra-leone\/","title":{"rendered":"Soldier hero returns to Sierra Leone"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A heroic soldier whose quick decision-making forced a ceasefire in Sierra Leone ten years ago has returned to the African nation with a hero&rsquo;s welcome.<\/p>\n<p>The Sun reported that General David Richards &ndash; who at the time was Brigadier David Richards &ndash; was first sent to west Africa in May 2000 as part of efforts to rescue stranded British citizens and United Nations workers amidst Sierra Leone&rsquo;s civil war.<\/p>\n<p>During his mission, he took the decision to disobey orders to carry out the evacuation operation and instead made a move to work with the local army to push back the rebels after he saw the brutality that had been inflicted on children and adults in the region.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, his brave gamble paid off and General Richards&rsquo; actions eventually led to the signing of a ceasefire within weeks.<\/p>\n<p>&quot;I thank the Lord someone made me a soldier. I was just lucky to be sent here that day,&quot; General Richards said on his return visit to Sierra Leone.<\/p>\n<p>A troop of brave servicemen who had recently returned from a six-month tour of duty in Afghanistan were welcomed back as heroes when they touched down in Edinburgh earlier this month.<\/p>\n<p>Members of 3rd Battalion The Rifles celebrated an emotional reunion with their families and friends after their time in Helmand province.<\/p>\n<p>Posted by Simon Williams<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"ADNFCR-2867-ID-19808614-ADNFCR\" src=\"http:\/\/feeds.directnews.co.uk\/feedtrack\/justcopyright.gif?feedid=2867&amp;itemid=19808614\"\/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A soldier hero has returned to Sierra Leone to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the actions he took to end the nation&rsquo;s civil war.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6381,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-support-soldiers"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - 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