NEWS RELEASES from the United States Department of Defense
No. 696-07 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 04, 2007
DoD Identifies Army Casualties
The Department of Defense announced today the death of five soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They died May 30, 2007, in Upper Sangin Valley, Afghanistan, when their helicopter crashed apparently due to enemy fire. They were assigned to the 3rd General Support Aviation Battalion, 82nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Killed were:
- Chief Warrant Officer Christopher M. Allgaier, 33, of Omaha, Nebraska
- Chief Warrant Officer Joshua R. Rodgers, 29, of Carson City, Nevada
- Staff Sergeant Charlie L. Bagwell, 28, of Lake Toxaway, North Carolina
- Sergeant Jesse A. Blamires, 25, of West Jordan, Utah
- Sergeant Brandon E. Hadaway, 25, of Valley, Alabama
An East Alabama family is mourning the loss of a 25-year-old son, husband and father, who was shot down by the Taliban.
Sergeant Brandon hadaway, along with six other soldiers, was killed in Afghanistan on Wednesday.
According to family members, the Taliban shot down Hadaway’s Chinook helicopter with a rocket propelled grenade. The hadaway family says no words can express what they are going through. They tell me their tight knit family and prayers from the community is what’s holding them up through this awful time.
Gadaway attended Valley High School, then decided to join the military about five and half years ago and was stationed at Fort Bragg. It’s a military family, with Hadaway’s brother just finishing up basic training at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Hadaway did three tours oversees, first in Afghanistan, then Iraq, then back in Afghanistan. He was the crew chief on the Chinook helicopter, when it was shot down by Taliban fighters, Wednesday.
He leaves behind a young wife and three sons, ages, six, three and a seven month old baby boy. Right now, the family still doesn’t know when funeral services will be. We do know they will be held at Fairfax Congregation Holiness church.
Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.
Reviewed by: Michael Howard