Ghanaian army soldier Mensah was killed in the Bronx fire
U.S. senator Chuck Schumer is urging the Army to posthumously honor soldier Emmanuel Mensah, who died Dec. 28 while rescuing people from a Bronx fire.
Pvt. 1st Class Mensah, 28, was among the 13 victims of the fast-moving blaze that reduced the building at 2363 Prospect Ave. into a charred wreck.
Before his tragic death, the young soldier (photo) saved four lives, officials said. Mensah zipped in and out of the flaming building at least three times — bringing others to safety — before he succumbed on the fourth floor.
The Army National Guard soldier, whose family emigrated from Ghana, was a permanent legal resident and enlisted in 2016.
Schumer (D-N.Y.) wrote to the Army asking for a posthumous award to recognize Mensah’s bravery.
“Emmanuel Mensah was many things: a soldier, an immigrant, a first-generation American, a New Yorker — but above all else he was a hero,” Schumer said.
