Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), an official candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, offered her condolences to the families of the US Navy SEALs who died in Afghanistan on Saturday when their Chinook helicopter crashed after being hit by a rocket propelled grenade in Wardak province.
The US Navy SEALs and several Afghan commandos were conducting a rescue mission when the rocket propelled grenade attack occurred. The US helicopter crash killed approximately 24 US Navy Seals and seven Afghan commandos.
“This morning our nation mourns the terrible loss of life in Afghanistan,” Bachmann said. “I am deeply saddened to learn of the tragic loss of our brave troops, along with the Afghan forces who were serving alongside them,” Bachmann added. Bachmann also offered her condolences to the family members of the US Navy SEALs who died in the helicopter crash. “My thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who have suffered the grievous loss of a loved one, giving the ultimate sacrifice in the service of our country,” Bachmann said.
The US Navy SEALs who died on Saturday were members of the ultra-elite unit of the US Navy SEALs, reports NPR. Team 6 was the special forces group that killed Osama Bin Laden in May. During the raid on Bin Laden’s compound, no member of Team 6 was killed even though the group engaged in a firefight with Bin Laden’s bodyguards. Team 6 was based out of Norfolk, VA.
President Barack Obama also released a statement on the US helicopter crash in Afghanistan. “We will draw inspiration from their lives, and continue the work of securing our country and standing up for the values that they embodied,” Obama said.
Several Pentagon officials also remarked on the US helicopter crash in Afghanistan. Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that “the best way we can honor that sacrifice is to keep at it, keep fighting, keep moving forward.” Leon Panetta, U.S. Secretary of Defense, said that “I am deeply saddened by the loss of many outstanding Americans in uniform and of their Afghan counterparts earlier today in Afghanistan.”
At the end of her statement, Bachmann said that the US helicopter crash “is a sad reminder of the debt of gratitude and honor that we owe to the courageous men and women of the U.S. military, those guardians of freedom who protect American liberty while standing watch on distant ramparts across the world.”
Bachmann was one of the few GOP candidates to release a statement on the deaths of the US Navy SEALs in Afghanistan after their US helicopter crashed in route to a mission due to a rocket propelled grenade attack.
