I Got The News Today (IGTNT) which began in April of 2004 making it one of the oldest continuous series on Daily Kos, provides members of this community a venue to pay their respects to those who have died as a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The IGTNT title is a reminder that nearly every day the family of an active duty service member receives the terrible news that their beloved has died.
Honoring and Remembering:
Lt. Col. Frank Bryant
Maj. Jeffrey Ausborn
Master Sgt. Tara Brown
James McLaughlin
This is a two part series of IGTNT tonight. This diary is Part One of the coverage from the shooting incident at the Kabul Airport on April 27th. Part Two will be up at 8:30pm. Link is here for Part II.
These diaries were written by the IGTNT team and are a special group project. Part I was written by SisTwo, Maggie Jean, Jax Dem and me, Sandy on Signal. Part II will debut at 8:30 pm and was written by Jax Dem and CalNM.
The list includes eight Air Force Officers and one contractor. Please take a moment to reflect on their service and sacrifice.
Part 1 of tonight's series honors: Lt. Col. Frank Bright, Major Jeffrey Ausborn, Master Sgt. Tara Brown and James McLaughlin.
Part 2 honors: Maj. Philip Ambard, Maj. David Brodeur, Maj. Raymond Estelle II, Capt. Nathan Nylander anc Capt. Charles A. Ransom.
DoD Announces Air Force Casualties
The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of eight airmen who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
They died April 27, at the Kabul International Airport, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered from gunfire. The incident is under investigation.
Killed were:
Maj. Philip D. Ambard, 44, of Edmonds, Wash. He was assigned to the 460th Space Communications Squadron, Buckley Air Force Base, Colo. For more information media may contact the Air Force Academy public affairs office at 719-333-7731.
Maj. Jeffrey O. Ausborn, 41, of Gadsden, Ala. He was assigned to the 99th Flying Training Squadron, Randolph Air Force Base, Texas. For more information media may contact the 502nd Air Base Wing public affairs office at 210-652-4410.
Maj. David L. Brodeur, 34, of Auburn, Mass. He was assigned to the 11th Air Force, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. For more information media may contact the Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson public affairs office at 907-552-2341.
Master Sgt. Tara R. Brown, 33, of Deltona, Fla. She was assigned to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Joint Base Andrews, Md. For more information media may contact the Air Force Office of Special Investigations public affairs office at 571-305-8010.
Lt. Col. Frank D. Bryant Jr., 37, of Knoxville, Tenn. He was assigned to the 56th Operations Group, Luke Air Force Base, Ariz. For more information media may contact the Luke Air Force Base public affairs office at 623-856-6011.
Maj. Raymond G. Estelle II, 40, of New Haven, Conn. He was assigned to Headquarters Air Combat Command, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va. For more information media may contact the Headquarters Air Combat Command public affairs office at 757-764-5007.
Capt. Nathan J. Nylander, 35, of Hockley, Texas. He was assigned to the 25th Operational Weather Squadron, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. For more information media may contact the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base public affairs office at 520-228-3406.
Capt. Charles A. Ransom, 31, of Midlothian, Va. He was assigned to the 83rd Network Operations Squadron, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va. For more information media may contact the 24th Air Force public affairs office at 210-977-5796.
Lt. Col. Frank Bryant earned the nickname "Brusier" after winning the State Championship in Wrestling at only 119 pounds. His friends and coaches remembered him as a determined and respectful young man. He was a well-rounded man, who appreciated art, and even wrote his high school teacher a thank you note for her introducing him to the beauty of art. These qualities earned him a Congressional appointment to the Air Force Academy. From the Knoxville News Sentinel, his high school coach, Dan Dugger, remembered Bryant:
"I've never seen another one like him," Dugger said. "He came in as a freshman weighing 90 pounds. When he won state champion, there was no jumping around and hollering. He took his headgear off, folded it, and just shook hands with his opponent and me."
Dan Dugger also added:
"He knew what he had to do, and he did it," said Dan Dugger, who coached him for four years at Karns High School. "The first time I ever met him, he told me, 'I want to be a wrestler, and I want to be a fighter pilot.' Once he decided to do something, he worked all out for it."
His art teacher, Andy Haury, still has the note he wrote and remembered him well. She told wbir-tv:
"I remember exactly where he sat in my classroom. He sat in the middle table three tables back."
He was voted most artistic in his senior year. His art teacher shared the note, it read:
"You have made me appreciate art and beauty. Thanks for all you've done for me."
At the Air Force Academy, he was most valuable player and Captain of the wrestling team. He earned his Silver Wings in 1997. Bryant served in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is survived by his wife, son and parents.
Major Jeffrey Ausborn was a 19 year veteran with the Air Force. His widow, Suzanna, told CNN the two met when they were both deployed in Kuwait. Though they were often apart, the two were very much in love.
"Jeff is one of the types of people when you meet, you want to be around him all the time," she said. "You never want to be away from him."
Suzanna told CNN, they spoke every day. She knew something was wrong, when she didn't hear from him that day. She told the
Gadsden Times her husband volunteered to go to Afghanistan to be an instructor to Afghan pilots in flying C-27s.
“He was the most compassionate, kind, patient and understanding husband, father, pilot and supervisor,” she said. “He was a great communicator, we talked nearly every day — that’s how I knew something was wrong, I didn’t hear from him. I miss him so much.”
Suzanna was still in disbelief at Dover Air Force Base while awaiting his final return. She told CNN:
"I wanted to come to Dover (Air Force Base) last night to see my husband or feel his presence one last time. I wanted to salute him one last time," she said.
"But what I really wanted is for it to be a mistake and for them to say 'No, that's not your husband there, sorry, let's undo this.' But that didn't happen."
Ausborn was born and raised in Gadsden, Alabama. The community was hard hit by tornados that devastated the area. Ausborn had a long history of service to his country. He loved being a pilot and a teacher. He was featured in a 2008 Airman magazine for his work in teaching African pilots how to fly the C-130 . Major Ausborn is survived by his wife, Suzanna, and five children: Emily, Eric, Shelby, Mitchell Maloy and Summer Maloy.
Master Sergeant Tara R. Brown
Tara R. Brown was from Deltona, Florida. She was the client support technician noncommissioned officer in charge at the OSI Personnel Division at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland before deploying to Afghanistan.
Technical Sergeant Tara Brown was assigned to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations at Joint Base Andrews Naval Air Facility Washington, which was formerly known as Andrews Air Force Base. She deployed to Afghanistan in January for a yearlong tour to train Afghan airmen on computer and networking skills.
Sgt. Tara Brown trains members of the Afghan air force as part of a new computer training course, called "A+ training," at the Afghan Air Force Base on January 17, 2011, in Kabul, Afghanistan.
(Petty Officer 3rd Class Jared Walker, NATO Public Affairs – photo is licensed by Creative Commons)
On April 27th there was a gunfire attack at a military compound near Kabul International Airport in Afghanistan. Technical Sergeant Tara R. Brown and eight other Air Force personnel died when an Afghani pilot opened fire on them. Brown was 33 years old when she died.
Brown was posthumously promoted from technical sergeant to master sergeant.
Also killed in the same episode was a civilian contractor James McLaughlin Jr., 55, of Santa Rosa, CA.
From the Santa Rosa Press Democrat
By BOB NORBERG & JULIE JOHNSON
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
A Santa Rosa, CA man who had been working in Afghanistan for the past three years as a civilian contractor was one of nine Americans killed Wednesday in a shooting near Kabul International Airport.
James McLaughlin Jr., 55, and eight U.S. troops died early Wednesday when a veteran Afghan pilot opened fire during a meeting in a military compound near the airport.
His wife, Sandy McLaughlin, said Thursday she was notified he had been shot to death but was not told any of the circumstances.
Outside their two-story home on a cul-de-sac tucked back off West Third Street, a stream of friends and neighbors stopped by with flowers and food. McLaughlin's wife and one of his sons passed around phones to field calls from relatives.
McLaughlin retired as a lieutenant colonel from the Army in 2007, after 25 years in the service, and the following year began contract work.
He thrived in the military and found he loved to teach when he began training Iraqi pilots to run air operations, said one of his two sons, James McLaughlin, 25. He jumped at the opportunity to travel to Afghanistan to continue training local air units.
snip
McLaughlin, who had lived in Sonoma County since 1987, was also an avid ham radio enthusiast.
A radio antenna, one of McLaughlin's projects, stretched high above his family's yard, a tidy green space decorated with his wife's lawn ornaments. McLaughlin used the antenna to communicate with other radio enthusiasts around the world. He could utilize the antennae from Afghanistan through a program he'd set up on the Internet, according to his son.
McLaughlin helped set up a digital communications system for the ham operators who are part of the county Office of Emergency Services disaster communications network, said Ken Harrison of Santa Rosa, a friend for 20 years and fellow ham operator.
Sandy McLaughlin said she was naturally concerned about her husband's work in the war-torn country.
“This job was offered, he was using his military background and he was doing something he loved,” she said. “He loved doing the work.”
Throughout McLaughlin's career, his family had braced for the possibility that he might die while serving his country.
“You know it's a possibility and you cherish the time you have,” said his son, who served in the Marines from 2005 to 2008.
McLaughlin wanted to teach high school math and science classes when he returned and had planned to get his teaching license, his son said.
McLaughlin and his wife were married 28 years. In addition to James McLaughlin they have two other children, Adam McLaughlin and Eve McLaughlin-Suttif, all of Santa Rosa.
I Got the News Today is a diary series intended to honor, respect and remind. Its title is a reminder that almost every day a military family gets the terrible news about a loved one. Diaries about the fallen usually appear two days after their names are officially released, which allows time for the IGTNT team to find and tell their stories.
All of the U.S. fatalities can be seen here and here. They all had loved ones, families and friends. The DoD news releases are here. I Got the News Today is intended to honor, respect and remind. Click the IGTNT tags below for previous diaries.
Click the IGTNT tags to see the series, which was begun by i dunno, and which is maintained by monkeybiz, noweasels, blue jersey mom, Chacounne, twilight falling, joyful, roses, SisTwo, Spam Nunn, True Blue Majority, CalNM, Wide Awake in Kentucky, Maggie Jean, Jax Dem, Kestrel 9000, racheltracks, csas, and me, Sandy on Signal.
Please bear in mind that these diaries are read by friends and family of the service members chronicled here. May all of our remembrances be full of compassion rather than politics.