30 Americans Killed Including 25 SEALs When Afghan Insurgents Shoot Down Helicopter

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Romeo Gacad/AFP/Getty Images
[I]A US Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter lands at a forward base in Arghandab district while transporting troops around southern Afghanistan[/I].

By MARTHA RADDATZ (@martharaddatz) , LUIS MARTINEZ (@LMartinezABC) and MIKE BOETTCHER

[I]Aug. 6, 2011[/I]A helicopter was shot down today by Afghan insurgents as it was rushing to aid troops in a firefight, killing 30 Americans, including 22 Navy SEALs, most of whom belonged to Team 6, the unit whose members were involved in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, U.S. officials said.

The Chinook helicopter was carrying a quick-reaction force to provide back-up to the troops on the ground in the eastern Afghan province of Wardak, a U.S. official said. After the crash, the forces that were involved in the firefight "broke contact" with the enemy so they could go provide perimeter security for the crash site, the official said.

Additional forces were then sent to secure the crash site.

It's unclear how far away the helicopter was from the initial firefight when it went down and unclear how the troops in the firefight got to the crash location, the official said.

In addition to the 30 Americans, the official said there were seven Afghan army soldiers and an interpreter on the helicopter.

Although the Taliban have claimed to have shot the helicopter down, U.S. officials have only identified the attackers as insurgents.

On July 25, a Chinook was hit by a rocket propelled grenade fired by the Taliban. It launched in the belly of the aircraft which made a hard landing and only two soldiers were injured in that attack but this time all on board were killed.

Saturday's deaths bring the total number of coalition troops killed in Afghanistan to 334 this year, according to the Associated Press.

The last worst one-day U.S. casuality record in Afghanistan was on June 28, 2005 when 16 U.S. soldiers were killed in Kunar province after a helicopter was shot down by Taliban insurgents.

Afghan President Karzai's office released a statement on the incident.

"A NATO helicopter crashed last night in Wardak province," Karzai said in the statement. "President Karzai expressed his deep condolences because of this incident and expressed his sympathy to Barack Obama."

President Obama offered his thoughts and prayers to those killed in the crash.

"Their deaths are a reminder of the extraordinary sacrifices made by the men and women of our military and their families, including all who have served in Afghanistan," Obama said in a statement. "We will draw inspiration from their lives, and continue the work of securing our country and standing up for the values that they embodied. We also mourn the Afghans who died alongside our troops in pursuit of a more peaceful and hopeful future for their country. At this difficult hour, all Americans are united in support of our men and women in uniform who serve so that we can live in freedom and security."

[I]The Associated Press contributed to this report.[/I]

Some had young children, wives and girlfriends. Others were just starting to make their way in the world.

But the brothers, fathers, sons and uncles who died when a U.S. military helicopter was shot down in eastern Afghanistan all had something in common: a love of family and country, according to friends and family members. Those who knew them said the soldiers were aware of the dangers they faced but were dedicated to their mission — even if it meant giving their lives.

Here are the stories of some of the fallen:

Patrick Hamburger planned to propose to his girlfriend, but had a job to do first: a mission in Afghanistan.

The 30-year-old sergeant from Grand Island, Neb., had joined the Nebraska National Guard when he was a senior at Lincoln High School but had never been deployed, his brother Chris Hamburger told The Associated Press on Sunday.

"He didn't have to go, and he wanted to go because his group was getting deployed. He wanted to be there for them. That's him for you," Chris Hamburger said, adding that Patrick always looked out for his two younger brothers and friends.

He was also the kind of guy who helped his girlfriend raise her 13-year-old daughter from another relationship as well as the couple's own 2-year-old daughter, and planned to propose marriage when he got home, Chris Hamburger said.

Video: [URL="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44054129/ns/us_news-life/#slice-1"]30 killed in deadliest day for US in Afghanistan[/URL] (on this page)

Patrick Hamburger had been in Afghanistan less than two weeks and had arrived at Forward Operating Base Shank a few days before climbing aboard the helicopter with U.S. Navy SEALs and other troops to rush to the aid of a U.S. Army Ranger unit under fire from insurgents.

"It doesn't come as a total surprise that he was trying to help people and that's how it all ended up happening," Chris Hamburger said.

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AP [I]Sgt. Patrick Hamburger, 30, of Grand Island, Neb. Hamburger was among 30 Americans killed when a U.S. military helicopter was shot down Friday, Aug. 5. Military officials have not released the names of those killed, but Hamburger's family confirmed his death. [/I]

If someone was sad, Michael Strange tried to make them smile. He loved snowboarding, surfing, scuba diving, running, and shooting guns on the range.

"He loved his friends, his family, his country; he loved making people laugh. He was one of a kind," Strange's brother, Charles Strange III, 22, said Sunday outside the family's Philadelphia home, where American flags were planted throughout the neighborhood.

Strange, 25, decided to join the military when he was still in high school, and had been in the Navy for about six years, first stationed in Hawaii and for the last two in Virginia Beach, where he became a SEAL about two years ago, his mother, Elizabeth Strange, told The Associated Press.

But he always told his family not to worry.

Interactive: [URL="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44054129/ns/us_news-life/#slice-4"]Timeline: The war in Afghanistan[/URL] (on this page)

"He wasn't supposed to die this young. He was supposed to be safe," Elizabeth Strange said. "And he told me that and I believed him. I shouldn't have believed him because I know better. He would say 'Mom, don't be ridiculous and worry so much. I'm safe.'"

Charles Strange said his brother loved the SEALS, especially "the competitiveness, getting in shape and running and swimming and all of that."

He also had two sisters, 21-year-old Katelyn and 7-year-old Carly, and recently became an uncle. The family last saw him in June, when he came for a weeklong visit for his birthday, his mother said. He was supposed to be back for Thanksgiving.

"It was going to be such a good time," his mother said.

If Elizabeth Newlun wanted to have a serious conversation with her son, John Brown, she had to shoot baskets with him.

"There's nothing athletic about me, but I realized that you have to get into other people's comfort zone to get information," said Newlun, of Rogers, Ark., explaining that her son, an Air Force technical sergeant, was a "gentle giant" who "just loved anything physical, anything athletic."

Newlun said her son played football and basketball in high school and went to John Brown University on a swimming scholarship. He had wanted to go into the medical field and become a nurse anesthetist, but decided to join the military after seeing a video of a special tactical unit, she said.

Story: [URL="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44049685/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/t/seals-killed-crash-were-rescue-mission/"]SEALs killed in crash were on rescue mission[/URL]

The airman was a paramedic and ready to attend to the medical needs of anyone who was rescued, his mother said.

Arkansas state Rep. Jon Woods went to high school with Brown in Siloam Springs and remembered playing basketball and watching "Saturday Night Live" on the weekends.

"When you think of what the ideal model of a soldier would be, he would be it," said Woods. "He could run all day."

Aaron Carson Vaughn was a man of deep faith, insisting to his family that he didn't fear his job as a Navy SEAL "because he knew where he was going" when he died.

"Aaron was a Christian and he's with Jesus today," Geneva Vaughn of Union City, Tenn., told The Associated Press on Saturday. "He told us when we saw him last November that he wasn't afraid ... he said, 'Granny, don't worry about me.'"

"He was a tough warrior, but he was a gentle man."

Video: [URL="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44054129/ns/us_news-life/#slice-1"]Fallen SEAL was ‘willing to give his life'[/URL] (on this page)

Geneva Vaughn said her grandson, 30, joined the SEALS straight out of boot camp and was already a decorated fighter when he was asked by the Navy to return stateside to become an instructor. But he applied to SEAL Team 6 after two years, earning his way onto the squad in 2010.

He asked the military to return him to combat and shipped out just six weeks before he was killed, Vaughn said.

"He was doing what he loved to do and he was a true warrior," Geneva Vaughn said.

Aaron Vaughn leaves behind his wife, Kimberly, and two children, 2-year-old son Reagan and 2-month-old daughter Chamberlyn.

Robert James Reeves and Jonas Kelsall had been childhood friends in Shreveport, La., where they played soccer together and graduated from Caddo Magnet High School, Kelsall's father, John, told The Times of Shreveport and KLSA-TV.

Both joined the military after graduation, though the 32-year-old Reeves spent a year at Louisiana State University first, his father, Jim Reeves, told the newspaper.

Reeves became a SEAL in 1999 and served on SEAL Team 6, his father said. During his many deployments, he earned four Bronze Stars and other honors.

Kelsall, 33, was one of the first members of SEAL Team 7, his father said.

He trained in San Diego and met his wife of three years, Victoria, when he was attending the University of Texas out of Basic Underwater Demolition training, his father said.

Reeves placed several American flags outside his home and his neighbors joined in, many decorating their homes in red, white and blue in support of the families.

[I]Associated Press Writers Timberly Ross in Omaha, Neb., Chris Talbott in Nashville, Rochelle Hines in Oklahoma City and Ron Todt in Philadelphia contributed to this report.[/I]

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[I]The Shreveport Times via AP This family photo shows Lt. Cmdr. Jonas Kelsall, a Shreveport, La., native who was among the Navy SEALs killed when a U.S. Chinook helicopter crashed in Afghanistan on Friday, Aug. 5.[/I]

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[I]Rodrigo Abd, File - FILE - US soldiers from the 2nd Brigade, 87th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division, secure the area after existing a Chinoonk helicopter, Helmand Province, southern Afghanistan, in …[B][COLOR=#005790]more [/COLOR][/B] this Sunday, June 18, 2006 file photo. Insurgents shot down a U.S. military helicopter Saturday Aug. 6, 2011 similar to this one shown during fighting in eastern Afghanistan, killing 30 Americans, most of them belonging to the same elite Navy SEALs unit that killed Osama bin Laden, as well as seven Afghan commandos, U.S. officials said. It was the deadliest single loss for American forces in the decade-old war. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd, File)KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The 30 American service members — most of them elite Navy SEALs — who died when their helicopter was shot down had rushed to help Army Rangers who had come under fire, two U.S. officials said Sunday[/I].

By KIMBERLY DOZIER - Associated Press,PATRICK QUINN

The heavy loss shows that clandestine tactics carry huge risks despite the huge success of the SEAL mission that killed Osama bin Laden more than three months ago. Most of the SEALs who died Saturday were from the same unit that killed bin Laden, although none of the men took part in that mission.

The U.S.-led coalition plans to rely more on special operations missions as it reduces the overall number of combat troops by the end of 2014.

There were conflicting accounts late Sunday as to whether the SEAL team had subdued the attackers who had pinned down the Rangers and were departing, or whether they were hit as they tried to land. One official said they had accomplished their mission, but another said the aircraft, a Chinook helicopter, was hit as it approached.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was still ongoing.

Thirty Americans and eight Afghans — seven commandos and a civilian translator — were killed in the crash, making it the deadliest single loss for U.S. forces in the decade-long war in Afghanistan. The Rangers, special operations forces who work regularly with the SEALs, secured the crash site in the Tangi Joy Zarin area of Wardak province, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southwest of Kabul, the other official said.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the event, as the investigation is still ongoing. The SEAL mission was first reported by CNN.

NATO was recovering the remains of the twin rotor Chinook helicopter. A current and a former U.S. official said the Americans included 22 SEALs, three Air Force members and a dog handler and his dog. The two spoke on condition of anonymity because military officials were still notifying the families of the dead.

All but two of the SEALs were from SEAL Team 6, the unit that killed bin Laden, U.S. officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

Eight Taliban fighters were also killed in the battle, Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement.

Afghanistan has more U.S. special operations troops, about 10,000, than any other theater of war. The forces, often joined by Afghan troops, are among the most effective weapons in the coalition's arsenal, conducting surveillance, infiltration and capture missions and night raids.

From April to July this year, 2,832 special operations raids captured 2,941 insurgents and killed 834, twice as many as during the same time period last year, according to NATO.

SEALs, Rangers, and other special operations troops are expected to be the vanguard of the American military effort in Afghanistan as international military forces start pulling out. By the time combat troops plan to have left the country, the coalition will have handed control of security to the Afghan forces they have spent tens of billions of dollars arming and training.

Special operations troops are expected to remain in the country after 2014 for counterterrorism missions and advisory support. Just how many will remain has not yet been negotiated with the Afghan government, but the United States is considering from 5,000 to 20,000, far fewer than the 100,000 U.S. troops there now.

Special operations forces are frequently used to target insurgent commanders as part of an effort to force the Taliban's leadership to agree to a negotiated peace. The operations, mostly in the form of night raids, are often carried out by Afghan and coalition special operations forces.

Night raids have drawn criticism from human rights activists and infuriated Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who says they anger and alienate the Afghan population.

But NATO commanders have said the raids are safer for civilians than relatively imprecise airstrikes.

As U.S. forces removed the wreckage Sunday, nearby Afghan and NATO forces battled insurgents as they carried out clearing operations in the areas around the crash site, a region that is just a stone's throw from the capital. The province, which borders Kabul, has increasingly come under Taliban control in recent months — even as the U.S.-led coalition has begun handing over security for parts of Afghanistan over to the government of President Hamid Karzai.

"There have been a small number of limited engagements in the same district" as Saturday's helicopter crash, NATO said in a statement. "However those clashes have not been in the direct vicinity of the crash site. As of now, we have no reporting to indicate any coalition casualties resulting from these engagements."

[I]Associated Press Intelligence Writer Kimberly Dozier contributed to this story from Washington. Associated Press writer Lolita C. Baldor also contributed from Washington.[/I]

By Kevin Sieff and Greg Jaffe
[I]The Washington Post[/I]
First published Aug 06 2011 10:06PM
[I]Updated Aug 6, 2011 10:31PM[/I]

Kabul, Afghanistan • U.S. forces in Afghanistan suffered the deadliest day of the decade-long war Saturday when insurgents shot down a U.S. helicopter, killing 30 U.S. servicemen and eight Afghans in the latest of a series of setbacks for coalition forces whose numbers are set to decline over the coming months.

As U.S. troops have pushed the Taliban from havens in the south, the insurgents have retaliated in recent weeks with high-profile attacks and assassinations of Afghan officials. The incidents have challenged U.S. assertions that they are making steady progress in preparation for turning control of the country over to their Afghan partners. Insurgents have also stepped up attacks in the mountainous east, the site of Saturday’s incident.

The dead in Saturday’s attack included 22 Navy SEALs, most of them members of SEAL Team 6, the counterterrorism unit that carried out the mission to find Osama bin Laden, U.S. officials said. They added that none of the commandos who died Saturday were involved in the cross-border mission that killed the al-Qaida leader.

In a statement, President Barack Obama expressed his condolences to the families of those who were killed, saying their deaths were a "reminder of the extraordinary sacrifices" made by U.S. troops over the last decade.

He also vowed that U.S. troops would press ahead with the war. "We will draw inspiration from their lives, and continue the work of securing our country and standing up for the values that they embodied."

The SEALs killed Saturday were on a nighttime mission to kill or capture two high-level insurgents known for organizing devastating roadside bomb attacks on American convoys, officials said.

The attack on the Chinook helicopter near Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan underscored a dilemma for the Obama administration as it seeks to reduce the American presence: Even as U.S. and Afghan forces have weakened the Taliban in its southern heartland, the insurgents have been able to hold on to and expand some of their havens in the east.

U.S. forces flew into the Tangi Valley, in a remote part of Wardak province, about 2 a.m. Saturday, following a months-long intelligence-gathering effort, said a U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations. American soldiers had recently turned over the sole combat outpost in the valley to Afghans.

Early accounts of the crash suggested that the helicopter was hovering near the target location when an insurgent fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the Chinook and it went down, killing all of the passengers.

The Taliban took responsibility for the attack and the deaths of the 30 U.S. service members and eight Afghans on board. In addition to the 22 SEALs, there were eight U.S. troops from the Army and the Air Force.

U.S. officials confirmed that there was enemy activity in the area at the time of the crash, but cautioned that it could take weeks before investigators would be able to say definitively what brought the helicopter down.

Shortly after the crash, troops from a second helicopter managed to land safely nearby, engage the insurgents in a firefight and kill about eight of them, said a U.S. official. The men then attempted to recover the bodies of the Americans and the Afghans, as well as the remnants of the Chinook. Several hours later, they left the scene, the charred Chinook slung below the undamaged helicopter as it flew away.

SEAL Team 6, which has about 250 to 300 operators, is known formally as the Naval Special Warfare Development Group. Senior U.S. military officials said the loss of the SEALs would have little impact on the U.S. military’s ability to conduct strikes on senior and mid-level Taliban officials, which have become increasingly effective and lethal over the last 12 months, according to military officials.

"This will hurt more emotionally than operationally," said one former official, who has worked closely with special operations forces and spoke on the condition of anonymity. "But these are tough people and strong units."

A larger concern to U.S. officials was the potential impact of the attack on the American public, which has grown increasingly wary about the costs of the war at a time of soaring national debt.

National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor called the crash a "tragic incident" but warned not to "overread" its significance in terms of administration strategy in Afghanistan.

Saying that "the tide of war is receding," Obama announced in June that by next summer, all 33,000 troops sent to Afghanistan during the "surge" that began last year would be withdrawn, beginning with 10,000 this year.

U.S. commanders have repeatedly claimed significant progress as they attempt to transfer control to Afghan security forces by the end of 2014. In addition to the political imperatives of winding down the war, deficit-reduction agreements depend on major cuts in military spending. Some of those savings will have to come from U.S. troop reductions in Afghanistan, which will help lower the $120 billion annual cost of the war.

In seeking to bring down U.S. troop levels, Obama has pursued a middle ground between officials within his own administration who favored a more rapid withdrawal and generals who argued for higher troop levels through one more fighting season. But events on the ground have complicated his strategy.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, vowed in a statement after the crash Saturday that U.S. troops in Afghanistan would "keep fighting."

"I am certain that is what our fallen would have wanted, and it is certainly what we are going to do," he said.

The remote Tangi Valley, which sits near the border between Wardak and Logar provinces, has long been a problem area for U.S. troops and the Afghan government. U.S. forces had for years kept a small presence in those provinces, but in 2009 they surged troops into the area as violence spiked on Highway One, a key route into Kabul.

The additional American forces helped drive down violence initially, but in recent months the insurgents have begun to step up attacks in the area. The steep mountains and heavy insurgent activity in the valley have made it one of the most difficult places for U.S. troops to operate.

Afghan officials from the area said Saturday that insurgent activity spiked after NATO troops withdrew from a remote outpost in the area.

"The Americans left because they were getting casualties with each operation . . . and since then, the insurgents have increased their activity," said Shahidullah Shahid, a spokesman for the Wardak governor.

Although deadly helicopter crashes have not been common in Afghanistan, they have constituted some of the bloodiest incidents in the war’s history. Before Saturday’s crash, 96 coalition troops had been killed in eight separate crashes since 2005 - products of both mechanical problems and insurgent attacks.

Chinook helicopters are vulnerable to attack from rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns when taking off and landing.

Prior to Saturday’s attack, the deadliest helicopter crash involving U.S. troops in Afghanistan occurred in June 2005, when insurgents shot down a Chinook in Konar province, near the Korengal Valley. Sixteen U.S. 16 troops, most of them Army Rangers, died. The Rangers were flying into the valley to rescue a small team of Navy SEALs that had come under fire.

The crash Saturday brings the total number of U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan this year to 274. Over all, the summer fighting season has been less deadly this year for American troops than last year. Last month, 37 U.S. service members were killed, compared with 65 in July 2010, according to iCasualties, which tracks fatalities. In June, 47 were killed, compared with 60 in June 2010.

Jaffe reported from Washington. Staff writers Jason Ukman and Karen DeYoung and staff researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report from Washington. Special correspondents Javed Hamdard and Sayed Slahuddin contributed from Kabul.

According to CNN, the SEALs were so severely dismembered that the US government will not allow the press to cover/air the ceremonies [returning their bodies back to their homeland].

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[I]Taliban insurgents shot down a helicopter carrying Navy SEALs similar to the helicopter shown in this 2006 file photo from Afghanistan[/I].
Rodrigo Abd/AP

[B]The Taliban claimed responsibility for Saturday's deadly crash of a US military helicopter, and many Afghans say they doubt NATO's ability to turn back what appears to be fresh momentum for the Taliban[/B].

[I]By Tom A. Peter, Correspondent / August 7, 2011[/I]

[B]Kabul, Afghanistan[/B] -- The day after a helicopter crash resulted in the largest loss of American soldiers in a single day during a decade of war in Afghanistan, many locals say they fear it is a sign that the war will likely to drag on for a long time to come.

For most Afghans, the incident has done little to change their outlook on the future of the war. It has, however, confirmed their suspicions that NATO-led forces have yet to reverse the Taliban’s momentum.

“It is another big sign that indicates continuous fighting in Afghanistan," says Mirajudin Ahmadzai, a tribal elder in Nangarhar province. "That the Taliban can now shoot down a helicopter shows that they are getting more capable.”

MONITOR QUIZ: [URL="http://www.csmonitor.com/World/2011/0805/The-Monitor-s-Weekly-News-Quiz-for-July-30-August-4-2011/OBAMA"]Weekly News Quiz for July 30-August 4, 2011
[/URL]
US military officials say they are still investigating the incident, but it appears that the Taliban may have shot down the Chinook helicopter on Saturday east of Kabul in Wardak province.

[B]A blow to the special forces community
[/B]
Among the 30 Americans who died in the crash, at least 20 were Navy SEALs from the elite SEAL Team 6 unit responsible for killing Osama Bin Laden. Seven Afghan commandos and a civilian interpreter were also killed.

The magnitude of the loss will be felt hard by the special forces community – there are approximately 2,500 Navy SEALs in the US military and only a few hundred make it to SEAL Team 6. The deaths also constitute about 10 percent of all American fatalities in Afghanistan this year.

[B]Taliban claims responsibility
[/B]
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for downing the helicopter. Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Islamist organization says fighters used a shoulder-launched, anti-aircraft missile to shoot down the helicopter and he claims the fighters have a handful more of these systems scattered throughout Afghanistan. The Taliban has a history of taking responsibility for incidents they were not involved in or grossly exaggerating their successes.

According to Mr. Mujahid, the fighters did not know the significance of their target.

“We didn’t know exactly that it was that Navy SEAL unit, but we know whenever they have the night raids and they plan to attack mujahideen [holy warriors] somewhere, they always use their special forces so we knew they were very important,” he says, explaining that the helicopter was returning from a night operation.

[B]A propaganda boost?
[/B]
Throughout the course of the war in Afghanistan, 101 helicopters have crashed, 17 of which were downed by hostile fire. The significance of this latest incident is likely to serve as a major propaganda coup for the Taliban.

“They will have big morale boost since they’ve shown to the world that they can even target a chopper,” says Hakim Bashirat, a resident of Kabul who is originally from Wardak. “Foreign forces and the Afghan government will increase their military operations out there, which will cause many problems for the local residents of Wardak.”

Already, there were reports of fighting near the crash site on Sunday where foreign forces have been conducting a recovery operation. Other locals have reported that Afghan and foreign forces have arrested a large number of civilians in the area.

In Wardak, as in other parts of the East, residents say there has been an increase in militant activity in recent months.

“Foreign people will never bring security to us until our police and our army do their part,” says Roshanak Wardak, a former member of parliament from Wardak who now directs a hospital there. “We should be involved in this. There is no need for foreigners to go to the villages and kill the people."