6 dead in chopper crash in Afghanistan
CBS/AP) Updated 9:01 PM ET
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - A NATO helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, killing six members of the international military force, the U.S.-led coalition said.
The coalition said in a release early Friday morning that there was no enemy activity in the area at the time of the crash in southern Afghanistan.
CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reported that a CH-53 helicopter went down in Helmand province.
The cause of the crash is still being investigated. The coalition did not disclose the nationalities of those killed.
The helicopter crash occurred on the same day seven civilians were killed outside a crowded gate at Kandahar Air Field, a sprawling base for U.S. and NATO operations, after a suicide attacker set off a vehicle laden with explosives. The Taliban claimed responsibility, claiming they were targeting a NATO convoy.
It was the second suicide bombing in as many days in southern Afghanistan, officials said. The coalition said no NATO troops were killed. It does not disclose information about injured troops.
J and I had been emailing back and forth earlier tonight while I was at the Stock Show with his mom and sister, so I know where he is and that he is safe (though I also knew something was wrong--it was 3am in Afghanistan and he was at work), but my heart breaks for those families who have lost their loved ones. Several news sources have indicated that the six servicemen killed were U.S. Marines, and I can't begin to fathom what their families must be going through (if they've even been notified yet)--the shock, the disbelief, the anguish, the pain. I pray that they are able to find comfort and solace during this difficult time. And I pray that I will never find two Air Force officers standing at my door, waiting to tell me that something terrible has happened.
News like this makes me worry about J traveling while he's deployed. For awhile now, I've been able to compartmentalize and not dwell on the dangers of his being in theater. J has tried to reassure me countless times that he is safe, even when he's flying in helicopters or C-130s, but the first month of his deployment was still pretty hard on me. Well, you remember--the crying, the stress, the restless nights, the fitful sleep. They took their toll.
Since then, I've been able to settle into a kind of comfortable mundanity and it's been a month or two since I've actively worried about J's safety. But every time I see an article like the one above--and especially articles about helicopters falling out of the sky--it shatters my already fragile sense of normalcy. It's an intrusive reminder of the risks that I know J faces, despite his best attempts to shield me from them. Not that I want to be shielded--clearly I don't, otherwise I wouldn't read the news obsessively, scanning the headlines for every update, every new detail about the war. These risks, they are J's reality. Our shared reality. And I just want my J to come home to me safely. That's all I ask.
Please remember those who have given their lives for this country and for you. They have made the ultimate sacrifice and deserve all of the gratitude and respect that we can muster. Semper fi.
AFP/Getty Images
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