A new start

100%. If you can't be certain your details are correct, you can't write them in the authoritative, omniscient-novel-narrator way you have. How do you know how much of the sun the chopper actually blocked? How do you know the kid wasn't rubbing his eyes because they were itchy? And on and on. You're writing a narrative, but a non-fiction narrative; you have no creative license. So: I'd strongly recommend deleting every single thought you've imagined the Afghan kid having, every single motive you've attributed to his actions. You can keep the actions themselves, since Princeton described them to you, but nothing more.