The CH-47 Chinook was shot down while on the way to reinforce a group of Army Rangers who were in battle in Wardak province, west of Kabul, Afghanistan.
The 31 Americans lost were from the following branches:
- 15 U.S. Navy SEALs from the Naval Special Warfare Development Group’s Gold Squadron “Team 6”
- 5 U.S. Naval Special Warfare support personnel.
- 3 U.S. Army Reserve personnel from the 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment
- 2 U.S. Navy SEALs from a west coast based SEAL team.
- 2 U.S. Army personnel from the 2nd Battalion, 135th Aviation Regiment, part of Colorado Army National Guard
- 2 U.S. Air Force Pararescuemen from the 24th Special Tactics Squadron
- 1 U.S. Air Force Combat Controller from the 24th Special Tactics Squadron
- 1 U.S. Military Working Dog
Our friends at SoldierSystems.net paid tribute to the men of Extortion 17 on Wednesday:
I live in Virginia’s Tidewater which was home port for many of those men. I’m not sure the town will ever really get over the tragedy. There are a lot of families, friends, and teammates who bear the loss every day. Only one day a year everyone else thinks about these men and their sacrifice. I think that’s selfish.
… I challenge you to look past this one day a year and this group of men. By all means, remember the Men of Extortion 17 and then recognize the sacrifice of all of our fallen.
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