Six American troops, including Vorderbruggen, were killed Monday
when a suicide bomber on a motorbike struck their patrol in the
deadliest attack on U.S. forces this year.
NYPD
Detective Joseph Lemm of Bronx Warrant Squad is shown in this photo
tweeted by NYPD Midtown South on December 22, 2015. Lemm, a New York
City police detective volunteering for his third deployment to war
zones, was mourned on Tuesday, a day after he and five others were
killed in a suicide bombing attack.
A female officer in the
Air Force who was one of the first openly gay service members to marry
was identified on Tuesday as among the six U.S. troops killed by a
suicide bomber near Bagram air base in Afghanistan.
Facebook postings on Tuesday by friends and family of Air Force Major Adrianna Vorderbruggen mourned her death on Monday and sent condolences to her wife Heather and son Jacob, who live near Washington, D.C.
"We
do find comfort in knowing that Heather and Jacob are no longer in the
shadows and will be extended the rights and protections due any American
military family as they move through this incredibly difficult period
in their lives," said the posting from Military Partners and Families Coalition.
Six
American troops, including Vorderbruggen, were killed Monday when a
suicide bomber on a motorbike struck their patrol in the deadliest
attack on U.S. forces this year.
Bagram, around 40 km (25 miles) north of Kabul,
is one of the main bases for the 9,800 U.S. troops left in Afghanistan
after international troops ended combat operations last year.
The victims included New York City Detective Joseph Lemm,
a 15-year veteran of the NYPD who also volunteered in the U.S. Air
National Guard and was on his third deployment to war zones.
"Detective Joseph Lemm epitomized the selflessness we can only strive for: putting his country and city first," New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said in a statement.
Mayor Bill de Blasio
sent his condolences to Lemm's wife and two children, saying in a
statement they were among so many American families this holiday season "who
have an empty chair at the dinner table because one of their loved ones
went off to defend our country and never came back."
Lemm was deployed twice to Afghanistan and once to Iraq, Bratton said.
The
Taliban, which claimed responsibility for the strike, remains resilient
14 years after the start of U.S. military engagement in Afghanistan. It
has ramped up its attacks this year, inflicting heavier casualties on
Afghan security forces.
Just last week, the
Pentagon warned of deteriorating security in Afghanistan and assessed
the performance of Afghan security forces as "uneven and mixed."
More
than 2,300 U.S. troops have died in the Afghan war since the 2001
invasion, but the pace of U.S. deaths has fallen off sharply since the
end of formal U.S. combat and a drawdown of American forces.
Pentagon data
showed there have been 10 so-called "hostile" deaths of U.S. service
members in Afghanistan this year. There have been 10 non-hostile deaths,
largely from aircraft crashes.
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