The Counterterrorism Unit That Carried Out the Mission to Find Osama bin Laden, Killed

22 SEALs Among 30 U.S. Troops Killed as Helicopter Downed in Afghanistan

Greg Jaffe, Kevin Sieff, The Washington Post

Publication: theday.com

Kabul, Afghanistan — U.S. forces in Afghanistan suffered the deadliest day of the decade-long war Saturday when insurgents shot down a U.S. helicopter, killing 30 U.S. servicemen and eight Afghans in the latest of a series of setbacks for coalition forces whose numbers are set to decline over the coming months.

As U.S. troops have pushed the Taliban from havens in the south, the insurgents have retaliated in recent weeks with high-profile attacks and assassinations of Afghan officials. The incidents have challenged U.S. assertions that they are making steady progress in preparation for turning control of the country over to their Afghan partners. Insurgents have also stepped up attacks in the mountainous east, the site of Saturday's incident.

The dead in Saturday's attack included 22 Navy SEALs, most of them members of SEAL Team 6, the counterterrorism unit that carried out the mission to find Osama bin Laden, U.S. officials said. They added that none of the commandos who died Saturday were involved in the cross-border mission that killed the al-Qaida leader.

http://www.theday.com/article/20110806/NWS14/110809657/1017

Dog mourns at casket of fallen Navy SEAL

Labrador retriever Hawkeye lays down with a sigh at funeral of his owner

By Scott Stump
TODAY.com contributor

updated 8/25/2011 9:54:58 AM ET

Navy SEAL Jon Tumilson lay in a coffin, draped in an American flag, in front of a tearful audience mourning his death in Afghanistan. Soon an old friend appeared, and like a fellow soldier on a battlefield, his loyal dog refused to leave him behind.

Tumilson’s Labrador retriever, Hawkeye, was photographed lying by Tumilson’s casket in a heart-wrenching image taken at the funeral service in Tumilson’s hometown of Rockford, Iowa, earlier this week. Hawkeye walked up to the casket at the beginning of the service and then dropped down with a heaving sigh as about 1,500 mourners witnessed a dog accompanying his master until the end, reported CBS.

The photo was snapped by Tumilson’s cousin, Lisa Pembleton, and posted on her Facebook page in memory of the San Diego resident. Tumilson, 35, was one of 30 American troops, including 22 Navy SEALs, who were killed when a Taliban insurgent shot down a Chinook helicopter with a rocket-propelled grenade on Aug. 6.



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