BM1 Brian J. Ouellette

por **doc_breacher** Lun 21 Feb 2011 - 14:16

SEAL among those killed in explosion

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A Navy SEAL based in Virginia Beach was one of four U.S. special forces members killed in an explosion in Afghanistan, Navy officials said.

Petty Officer 1st Class Brian Ouellette and three other service members traveling in a Humvee were killed in Zabul province, about 240 miles southwest of Kabul, the nation’s capital. The four were members of the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force Afghanistan.

Ouellette, 37, was a member of Navy Special Warfare Group Two at Little Creek Amphibious Base and is the fifth SEAL from Virginia Beach to die in Afghanistan.

Naval Special Warfare spokesman Chief Petty Officer Tom Jones said that Ouelette was on a mounted patrol near the cities of Jahak and Seleh.

A native of Needham, Mass., Ouellette enlisted in the Navy in 1990 and became a SEAL in 1991, the Navy said.

Ouellette grew up in Waltham, Mass., and graduated from Waltham High School, but his mother now lives in Maynard, Mass..

He was remembered at Memorial Day ceremonies in both communities.

“It’s devastating,” the Rev. Kenneth Quinn said at a small ceremony at St. Bridget’s cemetery in Maynard. “This brings home what’s going on.”

In Waltham, Ouellette was remembered as a dedicated member of the SEALs, an elite fighting force that undergoes some of the toughest military training in the world.

“Once he got in there and got a taste of it, he wouldn’t be denied,” Jim Stanley, a friend and former roommate told WBZ-TV. “That’s really what he wanted to do.”

Ouellette was one of eight children and the family remained in seclusion over the weekend. His mother, Peg, said she was too distraught to talk when contacted by The Associated Press on Sunday and would only say “I loved him dearly.”

The other Special Forces soldiers who died in the incident, according to the Pentagon, were Army Capt. Daniel W. Eggers, 28, of Cape Coral, Fla.; Staff Sgt. Robert J. Mogensen, 26, of Leesville, La.; and Pfc. Joseph A. Jeffries, 21, of Beaverton, Ore.

At least 89 American service personnel have died in and around Afghanistan since the start of the U.S. war on terrorism following the Sept. 11 attacks, including 55 killed in action.