Pentagon: 101st Airborne soldiers identified as troops killed in Afghanistan attack (4th report)
By COREY DICKSTEIN | STARS AND STRIPES
RE:
https://www.stripes.com/news/pentago...1#.WT6wO1TyuM8
WASHINGTON — The three American soldiers killed by an Afghan soldier in an apparent insider attack Saturday in eastern Afghanistan belonged to the Fort Campbell, Kentucky-based 101st Airborne Division, the Pentagon announced Monday.
Sgt. Eric M. Houck, Sgt. William M. Bays and Cpl. Dillon C. Baldridge died of gunshot wounds in the Peka Valley in Nangarhar province, according to the Defense Department. Afghan officials said over the weekend that an Afghan commando opened fire on the soldiers in what has become known as a green-on-blue or insider attack.
Another U.S. soldier was wounded in the attack, the Pentagon said Saturday. The soldier’s condition was not immediately available Monday.
The Taliban said the attack was conducted by a member of its insurgency that infiltrated the Afghan forces. It claimed four Americans were killed in the attack.
The Pentagon said the incident is under investigation.
The soldiers killed in the attack belonged to 3rd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment and 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, both of the 101st Airborne Division, according to the Pentagon.
Houck, 25, was from Baltimore in Maryland. Bays, 29, was from Barstow in California. Baldridge, 22, was from Youngsville in North Carolina.
Their unit deployed to Afghanistan last fall in support of the NATO-led mission to train, advise and assist Afghan forces, according to the Army.
Six American servicemembers have been killed in Afghanistan this year. All six were soldiers and died in Nangarhar where U.S. and Afghan troops have been battling Islamic State forces.
Staff Sgt. Mark R. De Alencar, 37, Sgt. Joshua P. Rodgers, 22, and Sgt. Cameron H. Thomas, 23, were all killed in April.
dickstein.corey@stripes.com