Mich. Soldier Among Those Killed In Afghan Helicopter Crash
DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - WWJ has learned Wednesday morning that one of the 22 Navy SEALs killed over the weekend in Afghanistan is from Michigan.
Although the military isn't identifying him, the head of Emmet County Veteran Affairs said Heath Robinson of Petoskey was aboard the Chinook helicopter that was apparently downed by Taliban fighters.
As reported on CBSNews.com, the 30 U.S. troops (22 which were Navy SEALs) and eight Afghans who died in a helicopter crash in eastern Afghanistan were on a mission targeting a Taliban leader when an insurgent with a rocket-propelled grenade reportedly fired on the chopper and shot it down, U.S.-led coalition said Monday.
All but two of the SEALs were from SEAL Team Six, the unit that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan last May, officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information. (Read More) None of those killed had been on that raid, but with their deaths, SEAL Team Six becomes a symbol of both the triumph and the tragedy of war.
Meantime, the U.S. Military Chief in Afghanistan is saying international forces killed the Taliban insurgents responsible for downing the helicopter.
Marine Corps Gen. John Allen told a Pentagon news conference Wednesday that forces learned where the insurgents had fled to and killed them in an early Monday morning air strike.
A separate statement to the media from Afghanistan said the strike killed Taliban leader Mullah Mohibullah and the insurgent who fired the rocket-propelled grenade that downed the Chinook helicopter.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
