Pentagon releases names of Chinook crash victims

11:53 AM, Aug 11, 2011  |   comments

http://www.11alive.com/news/article/201226/40/Pentagon-releases-names-of-Chinook-crash-victims

Soldiers board a Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan in July. (CNN)

(CNN)

(CNN) -- The U.S. Defense Department Thursday released the names of U.S. military personnel killed in Saturday's downing of a helicopter in Afghanistan.

Thirty-eight people were killed in that attack, eight of them Afghan military personnel. It was the single largest loss of life for U.S. troops since the Afghan war began in late 2001.

Of the 30 Americans, 17 were Navy SEALs.

Twenty-two of the dead were U.S. Navy personnel, the Pentagon said.  Fifteen were SEALs belonging to the top-secret unit that conducted the raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden at a compound in Pakistan.  Two others were SEALs assigned to a regular naval special operations unit.

Five were so-called conventional forces with particular specialties who regularly worked with the SEALs.

The other eight U.S. troops killed included three Air Force forward air controllers and five Army helicopter crew members.

NATO said it killed the militants responsible for the attack.  Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid rejected that, saying a NATO airstrike killed a separate group of insurgents.

The following list was provided by the Defense Department:

The following sailors assigned to an East Coast-based Naval Special Warfare unit were killed:

• Lt. Cmdr. (SEAL) Jonas B. Kelsall, 32, of Shreveport, La.,
  
  The Shreveport native was in charge of Saturday's mission in Warduk Province near Kabul. Father John Kelsall, who heads Lakewood, California's Chamber of Commerce, told CNN affiliate KTLA in a statement, "The country will never understand the level of service those guys gave us." KABC reported that Kelsall, 33, was trained in San Diego, and he met his wife of three years while attending the University of Texas.
• Special Warfare Operator Master Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Louis J. Langlais, 44, of Santa Barbara, Calif.,
  
  Special Warfare Operator Senior Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Thomas A. Ratzlaff, 34, of Green Forest, Ark.,
  
  The 34-year-old Green Forest, Arkansas, native had a motto, according to CNN affiliate KYTV: "There's two ways to do things: Do them right or do them again." Ratzlaff leaves behind two sons - 6 and 11 years old - and wife who is expecting the couple' third child in November. KYTV spoke to his professors in high school, where he played middle linebacker for the football team, and many had fond memories of him. Science teach Bruce Culver joked that he was the best at dissecting frogs, and his friend Kevin Disheroon told the station that he always wanted to be a SEAL. He went to boot camp just weeks after his 1995 graduation from high school.
• Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician Senior Chief Petty Officer (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist/Freefall Parachutist) Kraig M. Vickers, 36, of Kokomo, Hawaii,
• Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Brian R. Bill, 31, of Stamford, Conn.,
• Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) John W. Faas, 31, of Minneapolis, Minn.,
• Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Kevin A. Houston, 35, of West Hyannisport, Mass.
  
  The Cape Cod, Maryland, native lived in Chesapeake, Virginia, with his wife and three children, according to CNN affiliate WVEC. In 1994, he graduated from high school (where he captained his football team) in a wheelchair after having a nasty motorcycle accident. He became a SEAL a few years later. His mother told the station, "He was born to do this job. He'd do it all over again." Just weeks ago,according to CNN affiliate WTKR, Houston gave an American flag - which he'd worn under his armor during his last three Afghanistan tours - to veteran Chris Kelly, a man who inspired him. Kelly told the station he was too heartbroken to be interviewed.
• Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Matthew D. Mason, 37, of Kansas City, Mo.,
• Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Stephen M. Mills, 35, of Fort Worth, Texas,
  
  The father of three children - 1, 13 and 18 years old - had a tremendous sense of humor, friends and family told CNN affiliate WTKR, and the 14-year Navy veteran loved being a SEAL. A sister of the 36-year-old chief petty officer told CNN affiliate KVUE that he never bragged about being a SEAL, despite a decade in the elite force. "He loved his teammates as brothers. He'll always be remembered as a loving person," Ashley Mills told the station. His cousin, J.B. Abbott, told KVUE that the central Texas native was "very proud and very brave."
• Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician Chief Petty Officer (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist/Freefall Parachutist/Diver) Nicholas H. Null, 30, of Washington, W.Va.,
• Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Robert J. Reeves, 32, of Shreveport, La.,
  
  The 32-year-old chief petty officer grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana, with Lt. Cmdr. Jonas Kelsall, who was in charge of the Afghanistan mission that ended with Saturday's helicopter crash. They went to school, played soccer and became Navy SEALs together. On a Facebook page set up in Reeves' memory, one poster said, "You could always make the boys laugh, dude." Another described him as "sweet, funny and kind-hearted ... More than anything, though, Rob was most passionate about the Navy and his role as a SEAL."
• Special Warfare Operator Chief Petty Officer (SEAL) Heath M. Robinson, 34, of Detroit, Mich.,
• Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL) Darrik C. Benson, 28, of Angwin, Calif.
• Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL/Parachutist) Christopher G. Campbell, 36, of Jacksonville, N.C.,
• Information Systems Technician Petty Officer 1st Class (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist/Freefall Parachutist) Jared W. Day, 28, of Taylorsville, Utah,
• Master-at-Arms Petty Officer 1st Class (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist) John Douangdara, 26, of South Sioux City, Neb.,
• Cryptologist Technician (Collection) Petty Officer 1st Class (Expeditionary Warfare Specialist) Michael J. Strange, 25, of Philadelphia, Pa.,
• Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL/Enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist) Jon T. Tumilson, 35, of Rockford, Iowa,
• Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL) Aaron C. Vaughn, 30, of Stuart, Fla.,
  
  Kimberly Vaughn met Aaron Vaughn in Guam when she traveled there with the Washington Redskins cheerleaders to entertain the troops. She said she last spoke with her husband the day before the fatal crash and, Kimberly Vaughan said, "We got to tell each other we loved each other so it was a great conversation to have." Kimberly Vaughn said she still plans to move forward with building their home in Virginia Beach, where she will raise their two children. His wife described her husband as a "warrior for Christ and he was a warrior for our country and he wouldn't want to leave this Earth any other way than how he did."
• Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL) Jason R. Workman, 32, of Blanding, Utah.

The following sailors assigned to a West Coast-based Naval Special Warfare unit were killed:

• Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class (SEAL) Jesse D. Pittman, 27, of Ukiah, Calif.,
• Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 2nd Class (SEAL) Nicholas P. Spehar, 24, of Saint Paul, Minn.

The soldiers killed were:

• 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.;
• 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.;
• 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.;
• 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.;
• 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.

The airmen killed were:

• Tech. Sgt. John W. Brown, 33, of Tallahassee, Fla.;
  
  The technical sergeant from Siloam Springs, Arkansas, studied pre-med before joining the U.S. Air Force to become a pararescueman, his mother, Elizabeth Newlun told CNN affiliate KFSM. His friend, Jon Woods, told the station that Brown was popular, athletic and loved a challenge. "He was just an all-American G.I. Joe, just a great guy who loved his country," Woods said. Newlun read KFSM a letter Brown's uncle had written, describing the airman as "Rambo without the attitude" and "brave but never arrogant, powerful but always gentle." He was married and had no children.
• Staff Sgt. Andrew W. Harvell, 26, of Long Beach, Calif.;
• Tech. Sgt. Daniel L. Zerbe, 28, of York, Pa.

All three airmen were assigned to the 24th Special Tactics Squadron, Pope Field, N.C.