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Aug 7th, 2011


30 U.S. Troops, Mostly Elite Navy SEALs, Killed in Afghanistan

7 Afghan commandos also die in attack; SEALs were from same unit but not same team that killed Osama bin Laden

Video

Saturday deadliest day for U.S. in 10 years of war (NBC Nightly News, Aug. 6, 2011) — The Pentagon confirms that 30 U.S. troops, 7 Afghan troops and an Afghan interpreter were killed in an overnight commando raid when their helicopter was shot down. NBC’s Atia Abawi reports. (03:30)

The Associated Press and NBC News via MSNBC.com
August 6, 2011

KABUL, Afghanistan — A military helicopter was shot down in eastern Afghanistan, killing 30 U.S. special operation troops, most of them from the elite Navy SEALs unit that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, along with seven Afghan commandos. It was the deadliest single incident for American forces in the decade-long war.

The Taliban claimed they downed the helicopter with rocket fire while it was taking part in a raid on a house where insurgents were gathered in the province of Wardak late Friday. It said wreckage of the craft was strewn at the scene. …

One current and one former U.S. official said that the dead included more than 20 Navy SEALs from SEAL Team Six, the unit that carried out the raid in Pakistan in May that killed bin Laden. They were being flown by a crew of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. …

The death toll would surpass the worst single day loss of life for the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan since the war began in 2001 — the June 28, 2005 downing of a military helicopter in eastern Kunar province. In that incident, 16 Navy SEALs and Army special operations troops were killed when their craft was shot down while on a mission to rescue four SEALs under attack by the Taliban. Three of the SEALs being rescued were also killed and the fourth wounded. It was the highest one-day death toll for the Navy Special Warfare personnel since World War II. …

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement that Taliban fighters downed the helicopter during a “heavy raid” in Sayd Abad. He said NATO attacked a house in Sayd Abad where insurgent fighters were gathering Friday night. During the battle, the fighters shot down the helicopter, killing 31 Americans and seven Afghans, he said, adding that eight insurgents were killed in the fight. …

Meanwhile, in the southern Helmand province, an Afghan government official said Saturday that NATO troops attacked a house and inadvertently killed eight members of a family, including women and children. …

In south Afghanistan, NATO said two coalition service member were killed, one on Friday and another on Saturday. The international alliance did not release further details.

With the casualties from the helicopter crash, the deaths bring to 365 the number of coalition troops killed this year in Afghanistan and 42 this month.

Full story

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8/11/2011 Update

Pentagon Names 30 Americans Killed in Downed Afghan Chopper


Composite of the 30 U.S. troops killed in the downed helicopter in Afghanistan. (Photo credit: AP)

The Associated Press, Reuters, and NBC News via MSNBC.com
August 11, 2011

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon on Thursday released the names of the 30 Americans who were killed last weekend when a rocket-propelled grenade fired by a Taliban insurgent downed their Chinook helicopter en route to a combat mission.

According to officials, the team included 17 SEALs, five Navy special operations troops who support the SEALs, three Air Force airmen, a five-member Army air crew and a military dog, along with seven Afghan commandos and an Afghan interpreter. All perished.

The crash of the Chinook CH-47, about 60 miles southwest of Kabul, was the deadliest single loss for U.S. forces in the nearly 10-year Afghan war. …

Video

Pentagon releases names of troops killed in chopper (NBC Nightly News, Aug. 11, 2011) — The Pentagon has released the list of all those lost this weekend when the Chinook helicopter was shot down on a Navy SEAL mission. (01:22)

Lt. Cmdr. (SEAL) Jonas B. Kelsall, 32, of Shreveport, La., Special Warfare Operator, Naval Special Warfare unit.

Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Robert J. Reeves, 32, of Shreveport, La., Naval Special Warfare unit.

Master Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Louis J. Langlais, 44, of Santa Barbara, Calif., Naval Special Warfare unit.

Special Warfare Operator Senior Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Thomas A. Ratzlaff, 34, of Green Forest, Ark., Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician, Naval Special Warfare unit.

Senior Chief Petty Officer (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist/Freefall Parachutist) Kraig M. Vickers, 36, of Kokomo, Hawaii, Naval Special Warfare unit.

Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Brian R. Bill, 31, of Stamford, Conn., Naval Special Warfare unit.

Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) John W. Faas, 31, of Minneapolis, Minn., Naval Special Warfare unit.

Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Kevin A. Houston, 35, of West Hyannisport, Mass., Naval Special Warfare unit.

Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Matthew D. Mason, 37, of Kansas City, Mo., Naval Special Warfare unit.

Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Stephen M. Mills, 35, of Fort Worth, Texas, Naval Special Warfare unit.

Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician Chief Petty Officer (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist/Freefall Parachutist/Diver) Nicholas H. Null, 30, of Washington, W.Va., Naval Special Warfare unit.

Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Heath M. Robinson, 34, of Detroit, Mich., Naval Special Warfare unit.

Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL) Darrik C. Benson, 28, of Angwin, Calif., Naval Special Warfare unit;

Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL/Parachutist) Christopher G. Campbell, 36, of Jacksonville, N.C., Naval Special Warfare unit.

Information Systems Technician Petty Officer 1st Class (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist/Freefall Parachutist) Jared W. Day, 28, of Taylorsville, Utah, Naval Special Warfare unit.

Master-at-Arms Petty Officer 1st Class (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist) John Douangdara, 26, of South Sioux City, Neb., Naval Special Warfare unit.

Cryptologist Technician (Collection) Petty Officer 1st Class (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist) Michael J. Strange, 25, of Philadelphia, Pa., Naval Special Warfare unit.

Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL/Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist) Jon T. Tumilson, 35, of Rockford, Iowa, Naval Special Warfare unit.

Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL) Aaron C. Vaughn, 30, of Stuart, Fla., Naval Special Warfare unit.

Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL) Jason R. Workman, 32, of Blanding, Utah, Naval Special Warfare unit.

Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL) Jesse D. Pittman, 27, of Ukiah, Calif., Naval Special Warfare.

Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 2nd Class (SEAL) Nicholas P. Spehar, 24, of Saint Paul, Minn., Naval Special Warfare.

Chief Warrant Officer David R. Carter, 47, of Centennial, Colo. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 135th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), Aurora, Colo., U.S. Army.

Chief Warrant Officer Bryan J. Nichols, 31, of Hays, Kan. He was assigned to the 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), New Century, Kan., U.S. Army.

Sgt. Patrick D. Hamburger, 30, of Lincoln, Neb. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 135th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), Grand Island, Neb., U.S. Army.

Sgt. Alexander J. Bennett, 24, of Tacoma, Wash. He was assigned to the 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), New Century, Kan., U.S. Army.

Spc. Spencer C. Duncan, 21, of Olathe, Kan. He was assigned to the 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), New Century, Kan., U.S. Army.

Tech. Sgt. John W. Brown, 33, of Tallahassee, Fla., U.S. Air Force.

Staff Sgt. Andrew W. Harvell, 26, of Long Beach, Calif., U.S. Air Force.

Tech. Sgt. Daniel L. Zerbe, 28, of York, Pa., U.S. Air Force.

Read full casualty profiles

Image: Wreckage of Chinook
Wreckage of the Chinook helicopter is seen at the site of crash in Wardak province, Thursday, Aug. 11, 2011. (Photo credit: Mohammad Nasir / AP)

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8/6/2012 Update

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Related reports on this site

Video

Deadly hours in Afghanistan (NBC Nightly News, Oct. 26, 2009) — An Army helicopter went down in the west of the country after leaving the scene of a firefight, killing 10 Americans. A second crash involving two U.S. Marine helicopters killed 4 more Americans, marking the heaviest single loss of American lives in Afghanistan since 2005. NBC’s Richard Engel reports. (02:56)

American Bloodshed Persists in Afghanistan (July 2, 2011)

One American Dies Every 18 Hours in Afghanistan (Jan. 1, 2011)

Dark Day for U.S. in Afghanistan (May 26, 2011)

Afghan War Deadlier Than Ever (July 31, 2010)

Deadly Day in Afghanistan (Jan. 11, 2010)

14 Americans Dead in Afghanistan (Oct. 26, 2009)

Deadly Day for U.S. in Afghanistan (Oct. 4, 2009)

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FROM THE ARCHIVES

One Year Ago — August 7 2010

Somali Terror Suspects Indicted

One year ago today, I reported that the Justice Department announced the indictment of 14 people — 12 of them Minnesota Somalis, many of them U.S. citizens — accused of funneling “money, personnel, and services” to the Shabab, the Islamist terrorist group fighting an insurgency in Somalia.

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Two Years Ago — August 7, 2009

Paroxysm of Violence in Iraq

Two years ago today, on August 7, 2009, I reported that a suicide car bomb devastated a Shiite mosque in northern Iraq, one of a series of attacks that killed at least 40 and wounded about 100 Iraqis. I also reported that Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud had been killed in a CIA missile strike.

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Three Years Ago — August 7, 2008

Campaign Against Michele Bachmann: Day 24

Three years ago today, on August 7, 2008 — the 24th day of my 2008 campaign against incumbent U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann for the Republican nomination in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District — I announced the August 9 kick-off of my walking tour from Freeport in the northwestern corner of the Sixth District to Stillwater in the southeast, on the Wisconsin border. I also posted a public service announcement to help draw attention to the sacrifice of National Guard citizen soldiers serving in Iraq and the families they leave behind.





4 Responses to “Darkest Day in Afghanistan War”
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