30 U.S. troops die in Afghanistan

[lizzybeth]

The DOD has released the names of all those killed:

http://www.wavy.com/dpp/military/dod-identifies-servicemembers-killed

Including Bart, the K9 SEAL

 

[Melly53]

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - The Chinook helicopter that insurgents shot down over the weekend burst into flames before hitting the ground, leaving wreckage scattered on both sides of a river in eastern Afghanistan and killing 30 Americans and eight Afghans, witnesses told The Associated Press on Thursday.
Farhad, a resident of Tangi Valley in Wardak province where the helicopter crashed before dawn Saturday, told Associated Press Television News at the site that it was brought down by a rocket-propelled grenade fired from a hillside that he pointed to.

"As soon as it was hit, it started burning," he said, standing in a field still littered with small pieces of the chopper, a part of a gun stamped "Made in Germany" and a piece of paper with typewritten first aid instructions. "After it started burning, it crashed. It came down in three pieces," he added. "We could see it burning from our homes."
Many of the victims' bodies were badly mangled and burned, said Farhad, who like many Afghans uses only one name.

The crash killed 17 SEALs, five Navy special operations troops who support the SEALs, three Air Force airmen, a five-member Army air crew, seven Afghan commandos and an Afghan interpreter.

Gul Agha, another resident of Tangi Valley who was interviewed at the crash site, also said that after it crashed, parts of the helicopter were burning on either side of the Tangi river. Some of the debris also ended up on a nearby hillside. "When the helicopter came at night, the Taliban were hiding in the bushes around the area," he said.

He said coalition forces worked several days to remove the victims' remains. Then they blew up sections of the helicopter into smaller pieces and loaded them on trucks and took them from the site, he said.

http://www.wavy.com/dpp/military/chinook-on-fire-at-time-of-afghan-crash

 

[Melly53]

I think this song and video is a very fitting tribute and commentary on this situation. Hope you enjoy! My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of all those who died.

http://youtu.be/LVAgC70oA4g

 

[MLE]

They had a purpose and that purpose is to keep America safe from the insurgents that want to harm us.

Politicizing their deaths with such hubris and hypocrisy is what makes the steady stream of American flagged draped coffins flow home unabated. The Afghans have a right to defend their country from all foreign aggressors the same way we would have a right to defend America from any invading army. Ultimately, it really wasn't the Afghans who killed the 30 men. <modsnip>

 

[Nova]

Politicizing their deaths with such hubris and hypocrisy is what makes the steady stream of American flagged draped coffins flow home unabated. The Afghans have a right to defend their country from all foreign aggressors the same way we would have a right to defend America from any invading army. Ultimately, it really wasn't the Afghans who killed the 30 men. <modsnip>

Whoa!

I too feel strongly about our foreign policy. But there has never been a human culture that didn't celebrate its warriors and commemorate them when they fall.

I understand your point about such recognitions, but let's don't call out individuals for what is an ancient and widely felt human instinct.

We can recognize the sacrifices of servicemen and women, honor them and express our gratitude at the same time we reconsider our military policies.