U.S. Navy SEALS Killed In Afghanistan Named

A Rare Window Into A Closed World -- DoD Buzz

Everyone wants to know: Who are America’s most elite special operators? The Pentagon provided some clues on Thursday when it released the names of the service members who were killed in Saturday’s CH-47 Chinook crash in Afghanistan. And although we keep being told to wait until the investigations are complete before deciding what to think about the tragedy, Thursday’s grim roll at least provides a glimpse of the men who take some of the most dangerous missions in the world.



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DoD Names Troops Killed in Afghan Shoot Down -- Military.com

Pentagon Releases Identities of SEALs Killed, Not Unit Name -- Bloomberg

Pentagon Releases Names of Personnel Killed in Helicopter Attack -- New York Times

Pentagon releases official list of dead from crash -- Washington Post

Names of troops killed in Afghan crash released -- Chicago Tribune/AP

Portraits of Navy SEALs killed in helicopter crash -- Boston.com/AP

Defense Department officially identifies service members killed in Afghanistan crash -- WTKR

Profiles in courage: A look at some of the SEALs who died -- Toronto Star

Defense officials: Fewer SEALs died in crash than originally believed -- CNN

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Criticism Of Special Ops Mission That Resulted In 30 Dead Americans Starting To Be Voiced

Commandos Criticize Call For SEALs -- Washington Times

Rangers’ danger, single helicopter among questions.



Some in the special operations community are privately criticizing the wisdom of Saturday’s failed rescue mission in Afghanistan, saying commanders should have sent more than the one Chinook helicopter that was shot down, killing 30 American troops, including 23 elite Navy SEALs.



They also questioned whether the quickly assembled mission was necessary to rescue a band of Army Rangers reportedly under fire from Taliban militants.



“I squarely blame whoever planned and authorized the mission for the deaths,” said a Special Forces soldier who served in Afghanistan.



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My Comment: There are some good questions that need to be answered, and I have confidence that the investigator (Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Coltthe) will be answering them.

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Wives Of Navy SEALS Are Rallying Around One Another

Sisterhood Of SEAL Wives Rushes To Aid Of Widows -- ABC News

The wives of Navy SEALS are rallying around one another, sharing support for the widows of the 22 SEALs who died in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan.



They also share the trepidation for those waiting to hear which husbands will be deployed to replace those who have fallen.



While the SEALs are known for their courage and toughness, their wives, mothers and fiances are displaying some that same grit.



"He was a fabulous son to his parents and a great big brother, and to me, the love of my life," Kimberly Vaughn, wife of slain SEAL Aaron Vaughn, told ABC News through tears.



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My Comment:At moments like this, I always remember General MacArthur's West Point speech on “Duty, Honor, Country."

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Questions About The SEAL Team Six Helicopter Crash

A CH-47 Chinook helicopter lands on Forward Operating Base Joyce in Kunar province, Afghanistan, March 9, 2011. CNN

3 Questions About The SEAL Team Six Helicopter Crash -- Popular Science

The loss of a Chinook helicopter carrying members of Navy SEAL Team Six made yesterday the deadliest single day in the entire Afghan War for the U.S., The New York Times reports. Here are the three most pressing questions that need to be answered after this attack.



The loss of a helicopter carrying more than 20 U.S. special forces and as many as 8 other U.S. military service members is an unprecedented one in this war. The United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DevGru)—better known by its former name, Team 6-reportedly suffered the bulk of the casualties. The incident comes just months after DevGru's raid that killed Osama bin Laden.



Information about the incident is still trickling in, but these are a few of the most important questions in the immediate aftermath.



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My Comment: I am sure there will be more questions as investigators examine what happened in this failed mission.

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Arlington Navy SEAL Among Those Killed in Attack -- NBC DFW

Family members say Chief Petty Officer Matt Mills was on his last mission.



Family members confirmed that an Arlington man was one of 30 service members killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan on Saturday.



Chief Petty Officer Matt Mills, 36, was on his last mission when the Chinook helicopter crashed in the restive Wardark province, his family said.



"He's always loved what he did," said his sister, Ashley Mills. "He told me he couldn't believe he could do this for a living because he loved it so much."



He was a Navy SEAL for 10 years.



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My Comment: Our prayers are to Chief Petty Officer Matt Mills' family and loved ones.

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The Deaths Of 22 Navy SEALs In Afghanistan Impacts America -- News Roundup

SEALs Emerge, Blinkingly and Broken-Heartedly, From the Darkness -- Time

The war in Afghanistan is pushing the Navy's SEALs -- long hidden in the pitch-black world of special operations -- into the shadows. While we can now discern some of what the Pentagon likes to call their TTPs -- tactics, techniques and procedures -- there's still much we can't see. But it's plain that the recent double-barreled news -- the killing of Osama bin Laden by Afghan-based SEALs on May 2, and the weekend helicopter crash that killed 17 SEa Air and Land team members (and five support personnel) just west of Kabul -- has cast a spotlight on the elite and secretive force.



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Fallen Troops' Bodies On Way Home After Crash -- CBS News

Remembering the fallen: Troops are identified in helicopter crash in eastern Afghanistan -- Washington Post

Families and friends remember those lost in Afghanistan crash -- FOX News

Navy SEALs Mourn Their Most Tragic Day -- NPR

U.S. troops in Afghanistan sad, angry over deaths in downing of chopper -- Stars and Stripes

Obama discusses helicopter crash with commanders -- Stars and Stripes

Foreign troops comb helicopter crash site in Afghanistan -- Reuters

NATO Secures Afghan Crash Site -- Voice of America

NATO Probes Cause of Deadly Helicopter Crash in Afghanistan -- Voice of America

Slain Navy SEALs had targeted known Taliban leader, officials say -- CNN

Commandos were targeting Taliban leader -- UPI

SEALs killed in Afghan crash were answering call for help -- L.A. Times

US helicopter shot down in Afghanistan was on rescue mission -- The Guardian

Elite Force Died in Bid to Save Comrades -- Wall Street Journal

AP sources: SEALs killed in helicopter crash in Afghanistan had been on mission to aid Rangers -- Washington Post

Nato Chinook helictoper shooting: Navy SEALS 'were helping Army Rangers in trouble' -- The Telegraph

Doomed soldiers were racing to save Army Rangers when their helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan -- New York Daily News

Four Pak nationals helped Taliban shoot down US helicopter: Afghan official -- Yahoo News/ANI

NATO: Downed chopper reportedly fired on by rocket-propelled grenade -- CNN

Nato helicopter shooting 'a lucky shot' -- The Telegraph

Nato probes helicopter crash that killed 38 -- The Independent

How the Taliban Brought Down the SEALs' Chopper -- Time

US helicopter 'crashed in Taliban trap' -- AFP

Did a New Taliban Weapon Kill a Chopper Full of Navy SEALs? -- Danger Room

Taliban claim new weapon after US helicopter crash -- The National

Afghan official says Taliban lured US special forces into trap with false information -- Global Post

Did Foreign Training Help the Taliban Take Down a NATO Helicopter? -- The Atlantic

Choppers in Afghanistan vital and vulnerable -- AFP

Despite heavy losses in helicopter crash, special ops likely to remain -- Stars and Stripes

SEAL deaths a "staggering loss": Ex-SEAL -- CBS

Pentagon: Crash tragic, but not a trend -- CBS News

Pentagon says deadly helicopter crash was tragic, but doesn’t signal rise in Taliban strength -- Washington Post

How to read the downing of the Chinook -- The Economist

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Families Of The US Soldiers Killed This Weekend In Afghanistan Come Forward

Families Begin Identifying U.S. Special Ops Killed In Downed Helo In Afghanistan -- Stars And Stripes

Family members are starting to identify some of the 30 U.S. forces killed Saturday when their Chinook helicopter was shot down in western Afghanistan. Among those killed , U.S. officials said, were at least 17 Navy SEALs.

CNN spoke to Geneva Carson Vaughn, who said her grandson, Navy SEAL Aaron Carson Vaughn, was among those killed. She told CNN, Vaughn, 30, is survived by his wife, Kimberly, and two young children and that he was stationed in Virginia Beach, Va.

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Troops killed in Afghanistan helicopter crash remembered by family and friends as heroes -- Washington Post
Families of 22 Navy SEALs killed come forward -- CBS News
Families, communities grieve for lost Navy SEALs -- ABC
In Va. Beach, tight-knit SEAL community mourns the fallen -- Hampton Roads
Don't forget to honor the Navy SEALS who died in the line of duty -- Michael Daly, New York Daily News

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Who Are The Navy SEALs

Who Are The Navy SEALs? -- CNN

(CNN) -- Most of those killed on the helicopter that crashed in eastern Afghanistan overnight were a part of the fighting force known as the Navy SEALs, two U.S. government officials said.

The men who died were not the ones who killed Osama bin Laden in May, but they belonged to the same unit, a military official said.

The group has its origins in World War II, when the United States realized that to invade Japan, it needed savvy, quick-thinking fighters who could perform reconnaissance at sea.

Beyond tactical expertise, the SEALs -- short for Sea, Air and Land teams -- needed to have extraordinary physical strength.

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My Comment: On a weekend when so many SEALs were killed in one Afghan operation, it is fitting to know (or remember) who they are.

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Secrets Of The Navy SEALs

The HK416 is used by U.S. special-operations forces, including the Navy SEALs team that killed Osama bin Laden. Eric Ogden

Secrets Of The Navy SEALs -- Popular Mechanics

As the Navy SEALs celebrate their success in killing Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, they're also looking to the next-generation gear that will enable their future missions on land, sea and air.

Thick black smoke rises from a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Stunned neighbors mill around the 10-foot-high walls as the Pakistani military cordons off the area. the still-burning wreckage of a U.S. aircraft litters the compound yard. Inside the building, four corpses, shot dead, lie in congealing blood.

Itʼs may 2, and The world is learning that Osama bin Laden is dead, killed by a U.S. Special- operations unit during a nighttime air assault. The raiders suffered no casualties but crashed a helicopter, which they blew up to preserve its secrets. Bullets, bodies and well-orchestrated carnage: The Navy SEALs were here.

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My Comment: A lot of these secrets are not secrets anymore.

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SEAL Team 6: Best Or Luckiest?

ST6: Best Of The Best Or Just A Lucky Roll Of The Dice? -- Jack Murphy, Kitup/Military.com

With the amount of self aggrandizing we hear from the Navy and the press who are falling over themselves to be the first to praise SEAL Team Six, now known as DevGroup (even though everyone still calls them by their old designation), an uncomfortable question has been raised in some quarters of the Special Operation community. Was SEAL Team Six selected for the Bin Laden raid because they were the best men for the job or were they simply at the right place at the right time?

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My Comment: They got Bin Laden .... that is what counts. The details I am sure will be examined and discussed at some future time, but now is not the time.

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