The poem volume 'Pilgrim at Desert Gates', by Second Lieutenant post-mortem Ioan Grosaru, will be launched on April 23, at the Army Staff headquarters.

The Romanian soldier's book, published by the Military Writers' Society, at the initiative of the Army Staff Chief, Lieutenant General Teodor Frunzeti, was printed by the Military Publishing House.

The event will be attended by the Romanian Defence Minister, Teodor Melescanu, Lieutenant General Teodor Frunzeti, the Director of the Military Publishing House, Adrian Pandea, the Chairman of the Military Writers' Society, Liviu Visan, and by Master Sergeant Marian Panciu, one of the comrades who stayed by Ioan Grosaru to the end.

Second Lieutenant post-mortem Ioan Grosaru was born on October 24, 1972, in Falticeni. After graduating the vocational school in Satu Mare, he enlisted in the 32nd Infantry Battalion 'Mircea' in Timisoara.

Grosaru participated in peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. He was killed in action on September 21, 2007, during a mission in Iraq. Ioan Grosaru is the author of two volumes of poems, 'Ship in Storm' and 'Call from the Unknown', as well as the author of a novel still unpublished.

MoD Press Office