The U.S. Navy SEAL killed on Sunday during a hostage rescue operation in Afghanistan is Petty Officer 1st Class Nicolas D. Checque, 28, a decorated combat veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Department of Defense announced Monday.

Checque was a member of SEAL Team Six, the special operations unit that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan last year, though it was not immediately clear if he took part in that raid.

Checque, who was from Monroeville, Pa., and stationed in Virginia Beach, Va., joined the military in 2002, and has been part of Naval Special Warfare Command since 2008, according to the DoD.

He was awarded a Bronze Star and two other awards for combat valor.

In a statement Sunday evening, President Barack Obama said: "Yesterday, our special operators in Afghanistan rescued an American citizen in a mission that was characteristic of the extraordinary courage, skill and patriotism that our troops show every day."

"Tragically, we lost one of our special operators in this effort," he said. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, just as we must always honor our troops and military families."

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta issues a statement on Sunday, prior to the release of Checque's identity, commending the team for rescuing Joseph and extending condolences to the family, teammates and friends of the soldier who died in the mission.

"(The team) put the safety of another American ahead of their own, as so many of our brave warriors do every day and every night," Panetta said. "In this fallen hero, and all of our special operators, Americans see the highest ideals of citizenship, sacrifice and service upheld. The torch of freedom burns brighter because of them."

The rescue operation was launched when coalition forces reported that American doctor Dilip Joseph, who had been abducted by the Taliban on Wednesday, was in imminent danger.

Joseph, who worked with the non-profit Morning Star Development of Colorado Springs, Colo., as a medical adviser, was kidnapped along with two Afghan staff members — one working on the medical team, the other a member of the support team. On Saturday evening, the other two men were released. They made their way out of the area and were taken to a police station. 

Contact between the hostages, their captors and the non-profit's crisis management team started immediately, Morning Star said.

"Our relief in the safe rescue of Mr. Joseph is now tempered by our deep grief over the loss of this true hero," the organization said in an additional statement on Monday. "We offer our deepest condolences to his family and to his fellow team members.  We want them to know that we will always be grateful for this sacrifice and that we will honor that sacrifice in any way we can."

Morning Star did not release the names of the Afghan nationals because "these two men live and work in the general region of the event," the organization said in a statement on Saturday.

At least six people were reported killed in the operation to rescue Joseph. 

The abducted men were returning from a visit to one of Morning Star's rural medical clinics when the kidnappers stopped their vehicle in Kabul province, and were then taken to a mountainous area about 50 miles from the Pakistan border, the group said.

NBC News' Kari Huus and Reuters contributed to this report

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A Nevada woman was found by her brother shivering in a hollow tree this week after having survived for six days on tomatoes and snow in the wintry Sierra Nevada in California, relatives and authorities said. Her boyfriend died during the ordeal.

The woman, Paula Lane, 46, of Gardnerville, Nev., was described Friday as in stable condition with only minor frostbite at Carson-Tahoe Hospital in Carson City, Nev. Her doctor said she could go home as soon as Sunday.

"She was one very lucky person," said Dr. Vijay Maiya, who treated Lane after she was found Wednesday night by her brother, who had set out in the snow to look for her against his family's advice.

Lane and her boyfriend, Roderick Clifton, 44, of Citrus Heights, Calif., had diverted from their trip home to go four-wheeling in Clifton's Jeep on Nov. 29 when they got stuck in a snowdrift in Hope Valley, south of Lake Tahoe, according to Lane's family and Alpine County, Calif., sheriff's deputies.

Clifton left to seek help, they said, while Lane stayed put. But he never returned.

After a few days, Lane decided that she was on her own and set out on foot. As she hiked toward the highway, she found Clifton's body in the snow. She later took shelter in the well of a hollowed-out tree as another snowstorm moved through the area. 

Lane's brother, Gary, found her off State Route 88 in Hope Valley. Their sister, Linda Hathaway, said she'd advised him not to risk it, "but he's going to do what he's going to do," she told NBC station KCRA of Sacramento, Calif. 

Reunited at the hospital Thursday, "I gave her the biggest kiss I could without hurting her," Hathaway told reporters through tears Thursday.

"It's so hard as a family to sit there at home, waiting to hear news if they're gone or if they went over a cliff or somebody abducted them," Hathaway said. "You don’t know. Your mind plays so many things." 

Clifton's daughter, Mariah Clifton, said she still couldn't quite believe her father hadn't made it.

"I kept thinking he was going to call and be like, 'Hey, call off all these news reporters and police officers. We have the car covered in leaves because I don't want another speeding ticket,'" she told NBC station KCRA of Sacramento, Calif.

KCRA: Woman saved by brother; man dies in Sierra

Rescuers said they had to use snowmobiles to get to Clifton's body. When they found the Jeep, it was buried under new snow.

Lane, however, had been remarkably lucky, having gotten out of the vehicle just in time, and with just enough supplies.

Octogenarian survives 5 days on windshield wiper fluid

"Before they went on their excursion, they had stopped by some family members' houses and apparently, they had gotten some tomatoes. She sustained herself on tomatoes and snow," Maiya said Thursday at the news conference at the hospital.

"Her toes were a little on the bluish side for lack of oxygen," but "they've re-warmed nicely, and she's doing well," he said, adding that Lane could be home with her 11-year-old twin children by the end of the weekend.

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Despite power outages, flooding and a crippled transportation system, New Yorkers stepped out into the streets Wednesday, trying to regain their daily fast-paced rhythm. 

Getting to work 
The sun was not up yet over Central Park and torn branches and debris from Superstorm Sandy were still scattered along Fifth Avenue as several New Yorkers huddled around a bus stop on the Upper East Side. They lined up as the bus approached, and, as a woman wearing scrubs took the first steps into the bus, the driver stopped her from paying the fare. 

“It’s free today,” she said. 

Buses and taxis were only a small part of the traffic crisscrossing streets at a brisk and, at times, busy pace for 6:45 a.m. The congestion became a serious concern as the day progressed, and Wednesday afternoon New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he would restrict car traffic coming into Manhattan to vehicles carrying three or more passengers until Friday. 

Jonathan Sanger / NBC News

Restaurant workers remove water from the flooded basement of the 11B Express pizzeria in the East Village, New York, on Wednesday.

While some bus service resumed and some bridges reopened, transit officials said they couldn't predict when the entire subway would be fully restored. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that parts of the subway would begin running again Thursday morning. 

On Broadway 
Many of Broadway’s 40 theaters, which had been closed Monday and Tuesday, were open Wednesday, but "The Lion King," "Mary Poppins" and “Evita” were among the performances that were canceled. That sent several dozen people – mostly tourists – to Minskoff Theater, where they waited in an orderly line at the box office to sort out their tickets. 

Museums, the Empire State Building and many stores also reopened Wednesday but parks, the 9/11 Memorial, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and many other top attractions remained shuttered. 

At the New York Stock Exchange 
Financial markets reopened after a two-day shutdown, with Bloomberg ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange.

If you took a quick glance at the neighborhood around the exchange, you would have thought it was a normal Wednesday morning on Wall Street. Traffic was moving, and a combination of locals, exchange workers and tourists populated the sidewalks. 

Brendan Mcdermid / Reuters

Traders and staff report to work at the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

But this was no typical morning. No stores or restaurants were open -- not even a Starbucks. The traffic light at the corner of Broadway and Wall Street was dark; there was no power anywhere.  

The only building within view that had electricity was the iconic New York Stock Exchange, which has always been heavily fortified, with backups upon backups, lest the edifice of American capitalism be compromised. 

The building –- lit red, white and blue -- stood out against the rest of the Financial District, which was pitch black before dawn. 

Exchange workers began showing up slowly, some working on connecting their firms with the trading floor. 

"We'll have to run the servers from the floor," one worker said to another. 

Others walked around looking for a good cell signal. 

As the morning went on, traffic built up, and more workers arrived, some by taxi, some by limo, others in vans or buses. 

Many left behind difficult circumstances at home caused by the massive storm. 

"I need to find a whole-house generator," a security guard said. His house was without power, and he had toddlers at home. 

"You and me, we live through it," he said. "But the babies, they don't understand." 

Two exchange workers walked past. One pumped his fist. "We're back," he said. "We're back!" 

National Guard lends a hand 
Military trucks parked along Lexington Avenue with the Chrysler Building in the background is the type of sight that stops people in their tracks. 

“It’s pretty cool,” a biker said, snapping a photo on his iPhone. “You just don’t see this in New York.” 

Jonathan Sanger / NBC News

Army National Guard troops from upstate New York stand in front of the the 69th Regiment Armory in Manhattan, on Wednesday.

Army National Guard troops from upstate New York were deployed on a 24-hour schedule to the city to supplement the rescue and recovery efforts of the New York Police and Fire Departments in the storm’s aftermath. The troops are stationed at the 69th Regiment Armory, a historic building currently powered by a generator courtesy of the organizers of the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, which takes place there later this year. 

“We’re here to help with anything the city can’t handle,” Capt. Brian Reed told NBC News. 

Capt. Kevin O’Reilly said the troops will likely stick around for a while as there’s still a lot of work to be done. So far, they helped evacuate a nursing home in the Rockaways, changed batteries in cell towers and brought fuel up numerous flights of stairs to Bellevue Hospital, among other things. 

“Our biggest challenge is ensuring that everybody around here is taken care of because of the power outages,” he said. 

A couple of blocks away, a deli worker who had poked a hole in a pizza box, wrote “open” in big letters across the front and put the box around his neck was standing in front of the Gramercy Star Café, hoping to attract customers to one of the very few open businesses on that block. 

The deli was without power, but the gas stoves were working, so kitchen staff worked by candlelight, making sandwiches and baking pastries. 

In the East Village
Vincent Sgarlato’s restaurant, “11B Express,” was closed Wednesday and dealing with a flooded basement, but residents in the neighborhood told us the pizzeria had given out free slices for most of the day Tuesday. 

Sgarlato said that once the restaurant lost power, he decided not to let the pizza dough go to waste. He and his team spent more than seven hours baking more than 125 pies, he said, which they sliced and gave away to whomever wandered in the restaurant. 

“It felt so good to do it,” Sgarlato, who opened the pizzeria about six years ago, told NBC News, adding that people wanted to give him tips but he couldn’t take them. 

“I don’t have the heart to do that,” he said.

Jonathan Sanger / NBC News

Vincent Sgarlato, owner of the 11B Express restaurant in the East Village, New York, stands behind the counter by the pizza ovens on Wednesday. His restaurant was closed for the day he gave away free pizza for several hours Tuesday.

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An Oregon teen is being hailed a hero after he rescued an 8-year-old boy from a fire that broke out in his home Monday, KATU.com reported.

Marcos Ugarte, 14, used a ladder to climb to a second-floor window of the burning Troutdale, Ore., home where a family of five lived. Alex Ma had tried unsuccessfully to get upstairs to rescue his son, Cody, 8, but he couldn't reach him through the thick smoke, ABC News reported.

Cody's parents, his grandmother Yim and brother Nathan had made it out safely, but Cody had locked himself in the room, the report said.

"When I arrived at the door of our neighbor's house, he [Alex Ma] was stumbling down the stairs because he had been completely engulfed in flames," Marcos' father, Eduardo Ugarte, told KATU. "He had soot coming out of his nose and his mouth, he had just ingested so much of it."

Marcos grabbed a ladder and climbed to the second floor, punching out the screen and grabbing the boy, according to KATU.

"I took the ladder, and I propped it up on the window, and I crawled up the window and punched the screen out ... and grabbed [the boy] and carried him down the ladder," the teenager told KATU soon after the rescue.

"I just told him to go feet first, and then he walked down the ladder, but I had my arm around him so he was secure," Marcos added. "He was scared at first and he didn't know if he should come out, and I was like, 'It's OK, come on, come on. I got you.' So he came out and he just walked down."

Investigators believe the fire was started by accident, KATU reported. It began inside Cody's room after 10 p.m. and spread to the rest of the house. According to KATU, Cody ran into another room and locked himself in, keeping the door shut and the smoke out.

"I may never forget their names because they're my heroes. They're my son's heroes forever," Alex Ma told KATU.

Marcos told KATU he received many congratulations at school, and the Gresham Fire Department also plans to honor him this year.

For more, visit KATU.com

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Two bodies recovered from Mount Rainier's Paradise Glacier late Friday afternoon are likely members of a group of four climbers that were lost in January, park officials say. The body of a third climber was found nearby in August. Search efforts are continuing.

Park officials said on Thursday, while conducting routine resupply operations to Camp Muir by helicopter, a body was spotted hanging over the edge of a large crevasse on the Paradise Glacier southeast of Anvil Rock. In addition, camping and climbing gear could be seen strewn across the bottom of the crevasse.

The body was partially buried under about 5 feet of snow and clearly had been in place for some time. The site is about a quarter mile east of the standard climbing route and on the other side of a ridge, at about 8,200-foot elevation.

On Friday, climbing rangers retrieved the body of a woman from the crevasse. A man's body was then recovered from under the snow nearby.

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Both individuals were transported by ambulance to the Pierce County Medical Examiner, who will determine their identities and causes of death.

Four climbers in two separate parties were lost in this vicinity during January storms. On Aug. 6, the body of Mark Vucich was found near the climbing route on the Muir Snowfield, about half a mile above Pebble Creek at about 8,000 feet elevation. The bodies recovered Friday are believed to be of those lost in January.

Rangers will return to the site, both on foot and by helicopter, to further investigate what appears to be a large campsite buried under the snow on the edge of the crevasse, in hopes of finding clues to explain what happened and, ultimately, lead to the fourth missing climber.

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Seventy-six people were rescued on Sunday from a sightseeing vessel that ran aground in Alaska's Glacier Bay and began filling with water, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

None of the passengers and crew members aboard the 79-foot Baranof Wind was seriously hurt, though some minor injuries were reported, Coast Guard Petty Officer David Mosley said.

The Coast Guard, National Park Service and a civilian cruise ship assisted in the Baranof Wind's evacuation, the Coast Guard said in a statement.

Most of the passengers were safely transferred to a large Holland America cruise ship, the Vollendam, which was in the area and responded to the emergency, and two people were taken aboard a National Park Service vessel, the Coast Guard said.

A Coast Guard cutter and helicopter also were dispatched to the scene.

Four crew members from the Baranof Wind remained aboard the tour boat and worked with Coast Guard personnel to pump water out of the vessel and keep it from sinking, the Coast Guard said. The boat was stabilized after the accident, and there were no immediate signs of spills or other pollution, Mosley said.

The boat's owner was arranging to tow the vessel into port, he said. The Alaska Dispatch newspaper reported that the vessel was headed toward Sitka.

Alaska issues permit for work on Gold-Rush era shipwreck

The accident was reported to the Coast Guard at about 11 a.m. local time (1 p.m. ET) and it has begun an investigation, Mosley said.

Glacier Bay, at the northern end of southeastern Alaska's Inside Passage, is a major tourist destination known for its spectacular scenery and marine life.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Tucson firefighters rescued a man and woman who were trapped in a storm drain just hours before torrential rains flooded the city and surrounding areas. 

The fire department responded just after 10:30 a.m local time Saturday after a passerby heard the screaming from the drain and called emergency services, NBC News station KVOA reported.

The pair, who showed signs of heat-related illness, had entered the drain willingly and became disoriented, officials told KVOA.

They spent more than eight hours in the drain, azcentral.com quoted Tucson Fire Capt. Barrett Baker as saying.

The situation was even more serious because of storms that were heading towards Tucson later in the weekend, Baker added.

"Being caught in a storm drain during a monsoon would've made this a body recovery rather than a rescue," Baker told azcentral.com. "Storm drains are just that -- storm drains. They are not people drains."

Heavy rain flooded roads throughout Tuscon on Sunday, KVOA reported in a separate story, leaving many motorists stranded. 

Firefighters had to rescue three elderly people who had tried to cross a wash, KVOA reported. A 93-year-old woman had to be carried out of the torrential waters in a stretcher. 

"You don't know what it looks like underneath that running water so when in doubt do not drown, turn around," Northwest Fire Captain Adam Goldberg told KVOA. "Somebody is not getting the message and the message is quite simple: If there is running water don't try to cross it."

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Four window washers were rescued by firefighters Wednesday after they were stranded for several hours in searing heat outside the 35th floor of a Las Vegas Strip high-rise hotel.

Clark County and Las Vegas firefighters spent three hours rigging ropes and descending from the roof of the 46-story Vdara Hotel to harness and lower the workers one at a time to a landing area below.

Clark County spokeswoman Stacey Welling said firefighters were summoned about noon after the men reported that their work platform appeared to be slipping.

No injuries were reported. Three of the men rescued were in their 40s and one was in his 20s, NBC's Las Vegas affiliate KSNV reported.

Mechanical malfunction
The Vdara is one of several glassy CityCenter complex hotels built by MGM Resorts International and Dubai World. The surrounding 67-acre development opened in December 2009, with the Aria, Veer and Mandarin Oriental hotels, a casino and the upscale Crystals shopping and restaurant complex. The flawed Harmon hotel and condominium tower never opened.

Hotel spokeswoman Yvette Monet said the workers' platform apparently stalled due to a mechanical malfunction.

Battalion Chief Eric Poleski of the Clark County Fire Department told NBC's Las Vegas affiliate KSNV that this kind of rescue was not as common as it once was but that firefighters still train regularly for similar situations.

More coverage of this story on NBC's Las Vegas affiliate KSNV

"Las Vegas hasn't been building things quite as much as they used to. When CityCenter was being built we were doing this (type of rescue) at a fairly regular basis. ... But it's been quite a while since we've done something like this on a side of a building," he told KSNV.

KSNV

The rescue of the four window washers in Las Vegas on Wednesday played out on live television.

Soaring temperatures
The first firefighter to reach the men brought bottled water, officials said. The National Weather Service reported temperatures at 104 degrees and winds a moderate 10 mph at nearby McCarran International Airport at the time.

Television viewers watched the rescue live on local television.

Complete US news coverage on NBCNews.com

In March 2009, firefighters rescued two window washers who suffered minor injuries when a cable holding their platform snapped during gusty winds outside the Wynn Resorts-owned Encore Las Vegas.

Both men were wearing safety harnesses, and were pulled to safety through a 15th-floor window, while the platform slammed against windows facing the Vegas Strip and rained broken glass onto a swimming pool area below.

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The 12-year-old, who has not been identified, was not breathing when he was pulled out of the sand late Tuesday afternoon, officials said. Lifeguards administered CPR on him, and he was taken to Monmouth Medical Center where he was placed in pediatric intensive care unit.

For more visit NBCNewYork.com.

Witnesses at the beach said blood was coming out of the boy's nose when lifeguards were working on him. 

Someone screamed for help from lifeguards, who were just 15 feet away, said Roebuck. The boy was pulled out, and lifeguards performed CPR on him as they waited for paramedics.

A beachgoer from Staten Island, N.Y., said the boy wasn't moving.

"They were pumping him, pressing on his stomach, trying to bring him back," she said. "They kept trying to revive him, pressing, pressing. There was blood coming out of his nose... He didn't move." 

Sources said the tunnel was deep, and the weight of all the sand on the boy's chest made it impossible for him to breathe.

The boy was rushed to Monmouth Medical Center, where he was taken to the pediatric intensive care unit. 

The boy is from Oakhurst, sources said, but his name is being withheld.

Authorities said a fire truck responding to the scene hit a man holding his infant son. The truck hit the pair as it pulled into Ocean Place near the beach, knocking them both to the ground. 

Both were taken to the Jersey Shore Medical Center. The father suffered some broken limbs. The baby was injured but not severely. 

The firefighter driving the truck was working his last shift before his retirement, officials said.

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