seem petty to me...
These were the elite of the elite..these 22 young people..so far away and so out of sight, as much as we want to remember, be aware of their doings I am ashamed to say, out of sight out of mind..as we are paying no sacrifice for theirs .
RIP you brave fellows, and a very well meant , not just words, but heartfelt..
"Thank you for your sacrifices, may the lord look out for your families, RIP Seals "
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edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/08/06/afghanistan.nato.helicopter.crash/index.html?hpt=hp_t1----------------------------------------------
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U.S. official: Killed forces were on Afghanistan rescue missionBy
David Ariosto and Barbara Starr, CNNAugust 6, 2011 -- Updated 1959 GMT (0359 HKT)
SEALs killed were on rescue missionSTORY HIGHLIGHTS
Helicopter was on a rescue mission, U.S. military official says
22 of the dead are U.S. Navy SEALs, U.S. officials say
A majority belonged to the same unit that killed Osama bin Laden
7 Afghans died in the incident, President Karzai says
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) --
Nearly two dozen U.S. special forces killed early Saturday in Afghanistan were on a mission to rescue another team of military personnel pinned down by insurgents, a U.S. military official told CNN.
The helicopter that went down in eastern Afghanistan carried 31 Americans, including 22 Navy SEALs, who were part of a "quick reaction force" sent in to pick up others engaged in a fierce firefight, the official said.
In the single deadliest incident since the start of the decade-long Afghan war, the Army Chinook carrying a team of U.S. special forces and U.S. and Afghan soldiers went down in Wardak province.
Insurgents are believed to have shot down the helicopter, a military official said.
The majority of the Navy SEALs who died belonged to the same covert unit that conducted the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May, though they were not the same men, the official said.
DEADLIEST DAYS IN AFGHANISTAN
Saturday's NATO crash killed more than two dozen U.S. troops, making it the war's deadliest single incident for Americans, according to a CNN count. Here are previous large-scale losses.
U.S.
•April 6, 2005 -- 15 soldiers, 3 civilian contractors killed in crash of helicopter traveling in severe weather.
•June 27, 2005 -- 8 soldiers, 8 sailors killed when MH-47 helicopter downed by rocket-propelled grenade.
•May 6, 2006 -- 10 soldiers killed in helicopter crash.
•Oct. 26, 2009 -- 3 DEA agents, 7 troops killed as they returned from raid.
BRITAIN
•Sept. 2, 2006 -- 14 troops killed in NATO plane crash believed to be due to technical problem.
FRANCE
•Aug. 18, 2008 -- 10 soldiers killed in insurgent attack on patrol.
SPAIN
•Aug. 16, 2005 -- 17 troops die in helicopter crash. Accident most likely cause, but attack not ruled out.
"It's a big loss" for the SEALs, one of the officials said. "The numbers are high."
Afghan President Hamid Karzai issued a statement saying as many as 31 U.S. special forces and seven Afghans were killed.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force said 30 U.S. service members in ISAF, one civilian interpreter and seven Afghan commandos were killed."