‘I’ll be like you, daddy’

“I promise to be just like you in whichever career I choose,” Amanda, 15, said of her father, Defence Force Warrant Officer 2 Omar Samaroo as she delivered a touching tribute at his funeral service, which was held under Hindu rites at El Carmen Village, St Helena.

“I will carry on your legacy of good leadership and organisational skills. If we had to list all of his wonderful qualities we will be here for days,” she told scores of mourners, who included Opposition MPs Dr Tim Gopeesingh and Rudranath Indarsingh.

Thanking her father for “15 wonderful years,” Amanda, a Fourth Form student of St Augustine Girls’ High School, described him as her best friend.

“I remember sometimes when he used to come home in the night and he used to sit on the stairs and while he was taking out his shoes, Mummy would come to the stairs and I would be doing school work and she would be like, ‘Amanda, look your heartbeat reach downstairs.’ He was my heartbeat. He was my life,” she said, tears streaming down her face.

Giving further glimpses into the family’s home life, Amanda said she would often ask her mother about the meals she prepared before arriving from school.

“Sometimes, when I would come home from school, I would ask Mummy what she cooked. She would say something like dhal, rice and baigan and I would say, ‘I don’t want to eat that and then Daddy would be like, you want a KFC and he would go and buy it for me,” she joked.

Supported by several of her cousins, Amanda said Christmas was always a very special time.

“Sweet 100 would have their countdown in September and Daddy would say ‘Make sure and put on the radio and listen to the parang and we would listen to it together,” she said, adding that her father’s birthday was on Christmas Eve and hers, on Boxing Day.

“So, it was a good celebration time,” she said.

Amanda wished her father eternal rest.

“Daddy, wherever your soul is, Mummy and I wish you nothing but peace. We love you. We miss you. But, but we are not God. You will forever live in our memories ans we will cherish it forever,” she said. Samaroo, 47, who served the Defence Force for close to 27 years, was discovered around 9.50 am on Tuesday with a gunshot wound to his neck at the TT Regiment’s Camp Cumuto base in Wallerfield.

He was taken to the Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Mt Hope, where he was allegedly succumbed to the injury later that day.

There have been conflicting theories about the circumstances surrounding Samaroo’s death.

Homicide detectives believe he committed suicide but there also have been reports that several of his ribs were broken and that there were marks of violence about his body.

Another theory suggested that he had been tormented over work-related issues in relation to an alleged link to the investigation into the leaking of photographs of Attorney General Faris Al Rawi’s children holding guns during a security training exercise, last year.

The TT Regiment has since denied those allegations.

However, Opposition Senator Wayne Sturge has since called for a full-scale investigation into Samaroo’s death. He has threatened to take legal action against the Chief of Defence Staff and the State if his call goes unheeded.

Yesterday, though, Samaroo’s colleagues avoided the speculation, opting instead to celebrate his work in the Defence Force.

Captain Steve Benny hailed the affable, decorated soldier as a perfectionist.

“His contribution to the development of the special forces operations detachment was invaluable,” Benny said.

“Sam displayed the highest levels of discipline, physical fitness, tolerance and support for the organisation.....

We truly uphold Sam as one of the best. His level of awareness and operational readiness could have been questioned by none.” Benny recalled that Samaroo often joked that he was the best-looking soldier in the army.

“I can recall one interaction prior to attending a parade. I came down from the office and saw Sam looking at his reflection in the window.

He then uttered to me, ‘Sir, I am a good looking fella. I could not stop laughing and now I do the very same thing when I pass that exact location. Even in the subtle moments he made an impact,” he said.

Pundit Tota Ram Maharaj officiated.

Gopeesingh also spoke.

After the funeral service, Samaroo’s wife, Sherry, overcome with grief, clung desperately to the coffin bearing the remains of her late husband. She had to be restrained by her daughter and other family members.

Samaroo, who was given a full, military send-off, was cremated at the Caroni Cremation site.