President Receives Afghan War Dead

President Barack Obama received the remains of 30 U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan and their 8 Afghan colleagues at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Tuesday.Media were barred from the solemn transfer ceremony,which was described by eyewitnesses as deeply moving.The President comforted the bereaved family and military members.
Among the fallen were 22 U.S. Navy SEAL commandos;5 U.S. Army Chinook helicopter crew;and 3 U.S. Air Force personnel.The helicopter was downed by rocket-propelled grenade fire in Wardak Province of East Central Afghanistan.Chinooks are considered the flying bus among the helicopters.In service since 1958,the Boeing choppers are known to be vulnerable during their take-offs and landings,when their guns are of limited use.They are quite respected as high altitude aircraft,however-an important consideration in the mountainous environment of Afghanistan.
The SEALs were coming to the aid of a U.S. Army Ranger unit that was pursuing a Taliban militant leader when it came under heavy fire.
The militants are very familiar with the Chinook helicopters.They lay down a barrage of rpg or .51 caliber machine gun fire to try to bring them down.This time,they succeeded.
The loss of the SEALs is most prominent in their home communities of Coronado,California and Oceana,Virginia.
Wardak Province is considered a high security risk.Militants have been recruiting there and asserting control in recent years,roaming freely at night.It is largely a rural area,with most residents engaged in agriculture to some extent.
Update:On Wednesday,General John Allen,USMC,commander of coalition forces in Afghanistan,said ground forces,acting on local intelligence reports,located 2 Taliban militants in a wooded area,one of them the militant who fired the rpg that downed the Chinook,and called in an F-16 airstrike to prevent their leaving the country.The militants were killed,but the Taliban leader originally sought by U.S. Army Rangers has not been found.