DOVER, Delaware—The remains of three Marines killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan have been returned to the U.S., arriving Thursday at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
Staff Sgt. Christopher K.A. Slutman, 43, of Newark, Delaware; Sgt. Benjamin S. Hines, 31, of York, Pennsylvania, and Cpl. Robert A. Hendriks, 25, of Locust Valley, New York, were killed on Monday when a bomb struck their vehicle near Bagram Air Base north of Kabul, the Pentagon said.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
The three were assigned to 25th Marine Regiment, a Massachusetts-based Marine Reserve unit.
Slutman was a 15-year veteran of the New York Fire Department. He grew up in Maryland and lived in Delaware and New York.
An aunt of Hendriks, Lorraine Caliendo, told Newsday that his brother Joseph, also a Marine, will be escorting Hendricks’ remains back home.
The fatalities brought to seven the number of U.S. troops killed this year in Afghanistan, underscoring the difficulties in bringing peace to the war-wrecked country even as Washington has stepped up efforts to find a way to end the 17-year conflict.
Relatives of the deceased Marines were invited to witness what the military calls a dignified transfer in which the cases containing the remains are transferred to a vehicle from the aircraft that ferried them to the United States.
Soldiers Killed in Afghanistan
The Pentagon has identified two soldiers killed Friday, March 22, in Kunduz Province in Afghanistan as a result of what it said were wounds sustained while engaged in combat.The two soldiers were identified as Sgt. 1st Class Will Lindsay, 33, of Cortez, Colorado, and Spc. Joseph Collette of Lancaster, Ohio, 29.
Collette was assigned to the 242nd Ordnance Battalion, 71st Explosive Ordnance Group in Fort Carson, Colorado, and Lindsay was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) out of Fort Carson.
According to Army spokesman Lt. Col. Loren Bymer, Lindsay enlisted in the Army in 2004 and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart Medal, among other awards. His deployments include a handful of tours in Iraq, as well as tours in Tajikistan and Afghanistan.
Col. Lawrence Ferguson, commander of the 10th Special Forces group, of which Lindsay was a member, said in a statement that his fellow soldiers are “deeply saddened” by his loss.
“Will was one of the best in our formation, with more than a decade of service in the Regiment at all levels of noncommissioned officer leadership. We will focus now on supporting his Family and honoring his legacy and sacrifice,” Ferguson said.
