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Updated at 5:03 a.m. ET: A senior Army leader was among three servicemen killed by a suicide bomber in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, a senior U.S. military official told NBC News.
www.carson.army.mil
Command Sgt. Maj. Kevin Griffin earned a Bronze Star.
The victims included Command Sgt. Maj. Kevin J. Griffin, the most senior enlisted soldier for the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division. Griffin, 45, of Riverton, Wyo., was a Bronze Star recipient who first enlisted in the Army in 1988.
Maj. Thomas E. Kennedy, 35, of West Point, N.Y., and Air Force Maj. Walter D. Gray, 38, of Conyers, Ga., were also killed.
The attack occurred in Kunar province.
Afghan officials: 3 US special forces troops killed
(Citing a military official, NBC News earlier reported that Brigade Commander Col. James J. Mingus was badly wounded in the attack. However, an ISAF official said early Friday said that Mingus had not been injured.)
While their names may be not be well known, U.S. officials consider this a significant attack because the brigade leadership was taken out by a suicide bomber.
The soldiers were all assigned to the 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 4th Infantry Division based in Colorado Springs, Colo.
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Leave a Comment:
Thank you for your service, gentlemen...Stand down, rest easy.
My thoughts and prayers for the families of these warriors; may they take solace knowing that they were serving their country in a God forsaken land so that we may live the American way of life. I thank them for their sacrifice so that I may sleep with ease.
Such a cheesy, empty gesture. What is this "American way of life" you speak of? Oh yeah, where the banks, corporations (like Walmart) bottom feed on the disadvantaged? Is that American way of life you speak of? Is that what they are dying for? Or maybe it's all about going balls deep in student debt chasing a degree that's ultimately worthless, getting your credit destroyed along the way. Is that what the troops are dying for? To preserve that way of life?
It's easy being all philosophical when it's not you being wasted, huh? Maybe you should buy another Made-in-China "Support The Troops" bumper magnet.
Imoem, simply shut the ___— up and fade away. We're talking about honoring our fallen servicemembers here, fool.
I am surely with the dead soldiers and their families.
At the same time, we should see that these unwanted sacrificing of soldiers' lives are not done again and again!
Just because, Bushes, Hillarys, McCains, Libermanns are after the Saudis, oil companies, lobbyists and Jewish lobbyists monies, these soldiers should not be sent to wars.
Only Bushes could send these poor soldiers to Iraqi wars on the orders of Saudis, oil companies and lobbyists.
Their lives are lost and our economy is shattered.
Both Afghanistan and Iraq are the toughest regions in the world, which were rarely ruled for long by outsiders!
But only Bush, Jr and his great experts blew their seventh century desert trumpets and danced along with Saudis dressing like them and opened the Iraqi war front in 2003!
At least, they should have "accomplished mission" in Afghanistan!
Now the same set of jokers are busy with Syria and Iran. Read the posts and war cries of some!
For some oil and monies mean everything and rest mean nothing!
More wasted American lives, these men deserved better than to die in this Islamic %%$# pit. Their service and memories should be honored but their sacrafice should never have happened. We should have had all our people out of that hell hole years ago.
ImoenOfTelengard-
I am sorry if I offended you in my well wishes to the survivors of those that were lost. I served my country, so that those less fortunate such as yourself can come up on this net and spew your hatred to a country that you feel has forgotten about you.
Those men that were wounded or those men that paid the ultimate sacrifice died serving their country- WHERE EVER THAT MAY BE -so that you can write what you just wrote. Perhaps you don't see it that way and that's okay. The beautiful thing is as insignificant as my little post is regarding my well wishes and the American way of life, how you live your life is YOUR choosing and not anyone elses. You can't blame Obama or Bush for your environment/situation you are in. You (and ONLY you) are responsible for the environment/situation you are in. You (and ONLY you) are the only one that can get you out of the environment/situation you are in. The same thing applies to those men that are serving their country. No one told them to go forward. But to them, it was a calling. Unless you served, you will never know what that feeling is like. But those of us that have and those that will fill in the ranks of the fallen do.
For that, I will just say "You're welcome." and you can be on your way living the American way of life.
:-/
I just clicked on your name, ImoenOfTelengard, and read your most recent posts; I take it you have a hard on about Made in China?
:-/
Only cowards fight like terrorists. Got em here ... got em there. May the good Lord bless ALL our lives. What ever the circumstances, surely these insecure people of unwarranted hate, there and here, can eventually be sought out and dissuaded. God bless our troops, their families and our country.
Do reporters even look at what they write anymore? This reads like it was written by a grade school-er.
who cares about proper grammar .... our Soldiers are dead!
RIP Thank you for your service, thoughts and prayers for your family members.
Yes, they are dead and it saddens me. It also saddens me that the author couldn't put a little more effort into a story about our slain Servicemen instead of just writing a couple of poorly thought out sentences.
Condolences to Sgt. Major Griffins family and friends.
Hoping for a speedy recovery for Col. Mingus.
Our thoughts and prayers are with you.
Afghanistan, the graveyard of empires.
Rest in peace Sgm Griffin, Thank you for everything.
Too bad you didn't have the ego to go up to him and thank him personally when he was still alive. Nope, you just had to wait till he died, huh? And I bet you won't do a damn thing to help his grieving family or even the currently wounded soldiers. You won't sacrifice even a second of your precious time volunteering for them, will you?
I support Azalea Charities for Wounded Warriors. I also give to the Children of Fallen Soldiers Relief Fund. It is the least I can do to support my brothers and sisters for their service and sacrifice to their country...
If you feel so compelled, ImoenOfTelengard, you can do the same...I know it will make your heart swell with pride...
:-/
Click on ImoenOfTelengard's name and read his posts; guess who has a hard on about Made in China?
:-/
Yeah, I have a "hard on" about Made in China for whatever that means.
I'm not even sure what exactly happened, and who were the unfortunate casualties because of the extremely poor format. Have any of the current batch of reporters/editors ever taken English/grammar/writing lessons? Really hate to see it affect a story like this.
So sorry that a difficult to research and distant story that is being updated as new details are uncovered has been written in a manner that put you off. In the future we shall endeavor to ensure that all servicemen are killed and reported on in a manner that you find more engaging and enthralling.
NBC staff could care less about a story like this story.My real surprise for today is there is no story by NBC involving /gays'/lebanese!First break in weeks! I presume tomorrow,there will be a couple of stories!
Rest in peace Sgm Griffin.
Rest in peace. Words cannot express sufficient gratitude for your service and sacrifice.
A tragedy that should never happen in that so much brass in close proximity is a recipe for disaster. My condolences to all involved.
See you in a few weeks.
Captain Greg Brannon-
You have the @!$%#tiest timing, you REMF!!! Pull your head out of your ass and get your @!$%# out of the street. It's not about you...
PS: Did Savannah Guthrie come to you to take a ride in your whip? Whatever.
PPS: Budget officers don't goto leadership engagements; they stay INSIDE the wire...
Major Thomas Kennedy Fund for his young family on
Rest in Peace WARRIORS! Boots down, rifles up!
With senior NCOs and Commanders being whacked, maybe our civilian leadership will see the fruitlessness of us being there. They did not, do not, and will never want us there, no matter how much we are trying to help them. They are beyond help and not worth the life of one more American soldier. My brother is still there and I hope for his safe return every day. Bring the rest of us home now! No use waiting until 2014! The only thing that will happen between now and then is more of our boys dying.
Can't disagree with anything you've said. Safe journey home to your brother and ALL our brothers in arms. It's time to let Karzai work his singular brand of b.s. on the Taliban instead of constantly trashing us for fighting THEIR war for them. Not one more U.S. service member should die in that @!$%#hole. R.I.P., First Sargeant.
@ WAR Ranger/75 11bravo40. It's not about U.S. helping the Afghan's. It's about U.S. setting up a another puppet government and the U.S. companies getting first dibbs on Afghanistan's mineral rights. Did you know that U.S. Satelites discovered one of the Earth's biggest deposits of Lithium Ore in the Afghanistan mountains including copper, Zinc and other precious metals. The U.S. companies want the Lithium for all the Ipads, Cellphones, and Blackberry tablets sold around the world. That is what it's all about. Not about Freedoms or securities. It's all about profits. You need to google Operation Ajax, Project Paper Clip, Operation Northwoods, Operation Garden Plot and so many more and you need to open your eyes to the truth.
you're a fool, poltergeist, all those natural resources have already been promised to the chinese by karzai. or he's a dead man. capiche?
Poltergiest,
I'm just a dumb grunt. I follow the orders as handed down so long as they do not interfere with my moral/ethical standards. That is an oath I swore to 26 years ago. The politics behind those orders are not mine to judge. I'm not being a little Roger Robot, the Army wants doers and thinkers, ones whom can get the job done. But it is still under control of the civilian leadership. They are the ones who make the decisions on where I go and when. Or I should say, "where I went and when" as I retired 14 months ago. I deployed to A-stan twice, as required by my government, to help rid us of Al-Qeuda and install effective civilian leaders. This has not happened because the people over there are caught in the pre-industrial age and from what I've seen, never will join modern society. They do not want us there. The best thing the U.S. could do would be to cut all ties with the mideast. Drill our own oil from the vast proven reserves we have right here. Piss on them, let them rot in poverty. Thats what they want. You can have all of your theories concerning ulterior motives if it makes you happy, thats your right, and it may be true. I don't know, I was just concerned with being an effective Platoon Sgt. and getting home alive. All that other crap was above my pay grade.
Rest in Peace Command Sergeant Major Kevin J. Griffin, Major Thomas E. Kennedy, the Two Soldiers (names should be mentioned), and Airman (name should be mentioned) and condolences to your Families.
Get well soon Colonel James J. Mingus.
Having been involved with Afghanistan since Operation Cyclone it IS all about helping the Afghans, in this case keeping the Fundamentalist Islamic Jihadists (Fundamentalist Islamic Taliban) from taking over again and providing Fundamentalist Islamic Sanctuary to Fundamentalist Islamic Jihadist Organizations like Fundamentalist Islamic Al Quada. Just like after the 9/11 2001 Attacks we went into Afghanistan to Overthrow the Fundmentalist Islamic Taliban Government, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arxKhJIjIiY, that had previously massacred all the Pro US Afghan Muhajeen after Operation Cyclone as Collaborators to the Christians, Jews, Unbelievers, http://david393071.newsvine.com/_news/2012/03/12/10658053-afghanistan. After Overthrowing the Fundamentalist Islamic Taliban Government we chased the Fundamentalist Islamic Jihadists into Northern Iraq 2002, resulting in 2002-2003 Operation Hotel California and the later 2003 US Military Conventional Forces Liberation of Iraq in accordance with US Laws H.R. 4655 "Iraqis Liberation Act of 1998" and 2002 Iraqi War Resolution.
Iraq, http://david393071.newsvine.com/_news/2011/10/17/8369272-iraq
It was President Obama's March 2009 Policy that allowed the Fundamentalist Islamic Shia Republic of Iran to do anything without US Interventions that caused the US to lose Iraq (no more negotiations with President Obama nor SOS Clinton for the US to stay, and the Allies of the Fundamentalist Islamic Shia Republic of Iran, the Chinese and Russian Federation got the Iraqis Northern and Southern Iraqis Oil Field Contracts); the Fundamentalist Islamic Shia Republic of Iran pressure on the US Ally Government of Afghanistan for the Fundamentalist Islamic Shia Republic of Iran Ally, the Chinese (China Metallurgical Group) to get the High Tech Mineral Wealth of Afghanistan or be overthrown; pressure by the Fundamentalist Islamic Shia Republic of Iran on the US Ally Government of Pakistan for the US to leave or be overthrown; the Fundamentalist Islamic Shia Republic of Iran support (weapons, ammunition, training by their Special Forces (Quds), Funds, etc.) of the Islamic Jihadists of the Fundamentalist Islamic Muslim Brotherhood (Egypt), Fundamentalist Islamic Al Quada Yemen, Fundamentalist Islamic Shia of Iraq, Fundamentalist Islamic Al Sheebah (Somalia), Fundamentalist Islamic Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, etc. (US Department of State Lists) to overthrow US Allies Established Governments Worldwide.
Iran, http://david393071.newsvine.com/_news/2012/01/03/9928679-iran-2009-to-2012-strait-of-hormuz
After the departure of General McKiernan and replaced by General McChrystal, General McChrystal was inbriefed and shown the captured Fundamentalist Islamic Jihadists trained by the Fundamentalist Islamic Shia Republic of Iran's Special Forces, Quds, at the Northern Iraqis Autonomous Kurdistanis Region, 21st Century weapons from the Chinese and Russian Federation provided to the Fundamentalist Islamic Shia Republic of Iran then given to the Islamic Jihadists. After the inbriefing General McChrystal announced this to the News Media and then was given a Letter of Reprimand as this was against President Obama's March 2009 Policy (could not say anything against the Fundamentalist Islamic Shia Republic of Iran).
Afghanistan was NEVER a Conventional War (Conventional War named after the 1907 Hague Convention, 1949 Geneva Convention as Civilian attempts to make War "Civilized") and like most other "Modern" Wars has always been an Asymmetric War (aka Special Warfare; Insurgency, Counter Insurgency, Foreign Internal Defense, Humanitarian Assistance, Counter Terrorist, Special Reconnaissance, Special Surveillance, Required College Level Languages, Required College Level Culture, etc. (decades of training) as NOT trained to be done by US Military Conventional Warfare Forces). As stated during Command and General Staff College and War College before the Defeat of the USSR, the next Wars would all be Asymmetric and NOT Conventional. Like I stated before being on a Base, COB, FOB, at a Green Zone, etc. is like being Fish in a Barrel (Fixed in Place, Static Defenses, Known Location, Known Routes, etc.) just like WWII French Maginot Line, French at Dien Bien Phu French Indochina (Vietnam), US on Firebases at Vietnam, USSR 40th Army Afghanistan, US Military Conventional Warfare Forces at Iraq, etc..
Unfortunately you will always have your people whom think everything not going according to plan is because of the Illuminati, Skulls, or Freemasons trying to rule the world.
But for heavens sake, please don't repeat the blunders in Syria and Iran.
War mongers: please give these soldiers, their families and those economically shattered a break!
Just GTFO of there!
Rest In Peace, Sergeant Major, and thank you.
My heart goes out to their families and friends !!! "War is Hell "no matter how you cut it but the biggest part of my heart is saved for the innocents who suffer untold pain ,suffering and death from all sides of the professional war machines!!
We have been bombing that s*it hole for over ten years and only have caused FIFTY DOLLARS worth of damage because theres not s%ih there.We have lost so much for so little why are we there?
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
Sleep well this night warrior; know you will muster with your band of brothers in the morning. Your nation thanks you and we shall sleep well this night for the peace you have bought us.
@ LorenBP. WTF? Speak English you twat.
She was!
sincere condolences to the families of these warriors. the killings fields don't need anymore of our warriors.
What this report does not say is that a senior state department civilian was also killed in this attack. RIP CSM Griffion "Mountain Warrior 7"
That's it? That's the best they could do? These folks deserve a little more effort in terms of news write-up. A Commanding Sgt. Major? That is quite a loss for our troops, and all of those fallen soldiers deserve more recognition for their sacrifice. We are forever grateful for your service. Thoughts and prayers go out to their families.
God Bless to each. And comfort to the loved ones.
Rest in peace brother. My prayers to your family.
Why are we still there? What do we think we're going to accomplish in the next 18 mos. that we couldn't do in the past 10 years? Do the war profiteers see a few million more that they can extract? Does OBAMA give the slightest s***t about our contued and mounting losses? Why do we think that our presence over there will make us one bit safer since the murderous Arab roaches have spread throughout the region and beyond? All those dead Americans. For what?
Why in the f-u-k are we still over there? Really?? Let those aholes kill off themselves! R.I.P
Thank you for your service CSM Griffin. It was a pleasure to serve with you in Iraq. Thank you for your guidance and dedication. My condolences to your family, may God hold them close in their hour of need. To everyone else reading this call an old Army buddy and see how they are doing. Time goes by too fast and life is too short.
Rest in Peace.
Why have these men's death not been covered by other news sources? The Air Force released Maj. Gray's identity, but the Army had a few more to let the families know & did not release their own until now through NBC. Assuming the Army did so with a news release statement, why have no other media carried it?
It would appear this mass killing was planned & carried out by an insurgent who infiltrated the ANA in order to get so close to top combat leaders. The timing came on the heels of the Army's troop draw-down announcement. Can't help but think there is a connection, but what do I know.
These men were in the service a long time & have surely each of them had wives & children who will suffer a long time. We need to remember their wives & children in our prayers. They, too, have paid a very heavy price for this extended war.