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U.S. soldier's body arrives in GermanyRAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany -- The remains of an American soldier who was killed by a U.S. bomb in Afghanistan arrived Saturday at an American base in Germany. The coffin of Master Sgt. Jefferson Donald Davis, 39, of Tennessee, covered by an American flag, was saluted by an honor detail as it was brought off a C-5 cargo plane at Ramstein Air Base, said Maj. Bill Bigelow, a spokesman for U.S. European Command. Davis was one of three Army Green Beret soldiers killed in the bombing accident. The remains of the other two victims -- Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Petithory, 32, of Massachusetts and Staff Sgt. Brian Cody Prosser, 28, of California -- were brought to Ramstein late Thursday, along with the body of a Navy sailor who died in an accident aboard the USS Kitty Hawk.
It was unclear when the remains of those killed would be flown home. Fourteen of those injured in the accident were brought to the Landstuhl hospital for treatment Thursday and Friday. The three killed belonged to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group, based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The three soldiers and six Afghan opposition fighters were killed Wednesday when a 2,000-pound satellite-guided bomb from a U.S. B-52 missed its target north of Kandahar. At least 20 other U.S. soldiers and 18 anti-Taliban Afghan troops were wounded. The Pentagon said the bomb hit within 100 meters (330 feet) of the troops at 10 a.m. local time (12:30 a.m. ET). The body of Electrician's Mate Fireman Apprentice Michael J. Jakes Jr., 20, of Brooklyn, New York, also was flown to the air base. Jakes died Tuesday after falling from his bunk bed aboard the USS Kitty Hawk on November 29. Officials said they are still investigating his death. "Our condolences go to their families and their loved ones," said U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Thursday. "These men were engaged in a noble and an important cause and their families have every right to be proud, as we all are, of their commitment and their sacrifice." Marine Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, also expressed sympathy to the families of the Afghans who were killed and wounded. Including Wednesday's incident, four Americans have now been killed in combat in Afghanistan and four others have died in accidents. Several others have been wounded, including five U.S. soldiers seriously when a similar bomb went astray while warplanes were helping put down a Taliban prisoner uprising near Mazar-e Sharif. |
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