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Seventeen soldiers died in Afghanistan when their MH-47 Chinook helicopter was shot down this week. One of the killed was the son-in-law of my town’s mayor.
Franklin Mayor Tom Miller said yesterday that his son-in-law, James W. “Tre” Ponder III of Clarksville, was among those killed in the crash. Because the military had not yet confirmed the identity of those killed, Miller declined to name Ponder’s unit but said he was stationed at Fort Campbell.
Names of the other soldiers have not been released, but the Chinook’s crew is presumed to have come from Fort Campbell, Ky., about 60 miles northwest of Nashville. Although the post headquarters is in Kentucky, the largest town near the fort is the Tennessee city of Clarksville.
News of the crash comes at a time of increasing tension among Fort Campbell soldiers as many prepare to redeploy later this year, said Stan McCormick, pastor of Bethel United Methodist Church, which is near the base on Fort Campbell Boulevard.
“With the deployment coming, you just feel a little more tension, a little more stress,” said McCormick, who often consults with soldiers before they head overseas. “I don’t see how this can’t help but increase that a little bit, even if they don’t know (the crash victims).”
While U.S. Department of Defense officials would not provide any information about the 12 soldiers and five crew members killed in the crash, several news organizations reported that the helicopter was carrying U.S. Navy SEALS and was piloted by a crew from the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.
The 160th SOAR is based at Ft Campbell. It’s a sad day in Clarksville, and here in Franklin, too.
Update: DOD now confirms the number of dead at 16, not 17. There were no survivors.
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An online news and commentary magazine concentrating on foreign policy, military affairs and religious matters.
Editor:
Donald Sensing
Columnists:
John Krenson
Daniel Jackson
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June 30th, 2005 at 8:12 am
Please convey your readers condolences to Mayor Miller on his daughter’s loss.
June 30th, 2005 at 11:52 am
Each loss is its own tragedy, and they have my condolences too.
These boys did not die in vain, however. As Bill Roggio points out, it appears that they’ve uncovered a major Taliban/al-Qaeda node.
As the motto goes, “that others may live….”
June 30th, 2005 at 11:58 am
Red Wing Down
US forces suffered a tragic blow in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan. A MH-47 Night Stalker was shot down while conducting a support mission for a special operations observation team working in the mountains at…
June 30th, 2005 at 9:02 pm
Rev. Sensing puts a personal face….
….on the loss of 16 men in Afghanistan.Seventeen soldiers (actually 16 - ed.) died in Afghanistan when their MH-47 Chinook helicopter was shot down this week. One of the ki…
June 30th, 2005 at 9:35 pm
Hi,
Love your blog’s posts!
I just started blogging (http://coasm.blogspot.com/). How do you get that calendar of the past blogs to work?
Thanks
Beth
Confessions of a Soccer Mom
July 1st, 2005 at 11:34 am
Thanks for the info! I didn’t mean to advertise
sorry - I am new to this.
Beth
July 4th, 2005 at 8:43 am
[…] July 1 that one of the soldiers killed in the sot down helicopter in Afghanhistan was the son-in-law of my town’s mayor, James W. “Tre” Ponder III, stationed at Fort Campbell. Today’s […]
July 7th, 2005 at 8:00 am
[…] e American soldiers slain in the shoot-down of the MH-47 helicopter in Afghanistan was the son-in-law of my town’s mayor. Yesterday, James W. “Tre” Ponder III (I do not know his rank) was m […]
December 10th, 2005 at 11:35 am
Thank you to all that served. I will not forget those that gave their all.
Q
Don’t Let The Memory Of Them Drift Away
www.IraqWarHeroes.org