Five New York Army National Guard soldiers killed in June
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U.S. Army Photos by Capt. Robert Romano (Released) The American flag flies at half-staff at Camp Phoenix in Kabul, Afghanistan on Monday, June 30, as Soldiers line up to pay their respects to one Marine and three Army National Guard Soldiers who were killed in action on June 25 and June 26. Two New York Army National Guard Soldiers--Sgt. First Class Joseph McKay, aged 51 from Cambria Heights, Queens, and Spc. Mark Palmateer, aged 38, of Poughkeepsie-- were among three Soldiers killed on June 26. The 27th Brigade Combat Team of the New York Army National Guard is providing command and control for Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix, a multi-national force training the Afghan Army and Police.(Read the Press Release of This Event)
Albany NY
By DENNIS YUSKO, Staff writer
First published: Tuesday, July 1, 2008
In an e-mail from Afghanistan, National Guard Spc. Mark C. Palmateer confided to his daughter, Stephanie, that he was about to embark on a dangerous convoy mission to Kabul.
"He just kept telling her things were getting real bad over there," Palmateer's ex-wife, Kimberly Smith, said Monday from North Creek, Warren County.
As Smith spoke, Stephanie Palmateer, who turns 20 today, was driving from North Creek to the Poughkeepsie area to grieve her father's death with relatives.
Mark Palmateer, 38, of Wappingers Falls, Dutchess County, was one of three National Guardsmen killed Thursday by an improvised explosive device, small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades in eastern Afghanistan.
The killings are part of an escalation of violence in Afghanistan, where at least 45 coalition troops were killed in June, including the first five New York Army National Guard soldiers to die in the 7-year conflict.
June also marked the second consecutive month in which militants killed more U.S. and coalition troops in Afghanistan than in Iraq, a grim milestone that analysts say underscores the Taliban's growing strength.
Also killed in last week's attack near Forward Operating Base Shank in Logar Province was Sgt. 1st Class Joseph A. McKay, 51, of Queens, and Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Hilton, 37, of Michigan, who served in that state's National Guard.
The state Division of Military and Naval Affairs announced the casualties Sunday.
The three deaths followed an enemy ambush on June 21 outside Kandahar that killed three New York Army National Guard soldiers, including Spc. Anthony Mangano, who trained the last two years in Leeds, Greene County. Services for Mangano were held Monday in Suffolk County, where he grew up.
"Once again the members of the New York Army National Guard are mourning the loss of brave soldiers who died defending their country and trying to help the people of Afghanistan," said Maj. Gen. Joseph Taluto, state adjutant general and commander of the New York National Guard.
More than 1,700 New York National Guard members, including about 200 Capital Region soldiers, have been training the Afghan army and police since April.
There are 32,000 U.S. troops in the country, including 14,000 serving with NATO forces and another 18,000 conducting training and counterinsurgency.
Since the beginning of the year, 62 American troops have been killed in Afghanistan, more than the number killed in each of the first four years of the war. The figure is on target to top last year's toll of 117 U.S. service members killed.
In Iraq, at least 31 international soldiers died in June: 29 U.S. troops and one each from the former Soviet republics of Georgia and Azerbaijan. There are 144,000 U.S. troops in Iraq and 4,000 British forces and small contingents from other nations, according to The Associated Press.
United Nations figures indicate that civilian deaths in Afghanistan have surged more than 60 percent this year, with 698 deaths in the first six months, compared to 430 in the same time period in 2007, The Associated Press reported Monday.
And a Pentagon report released Friday said Taliban forces have regrouped since being forced from power in Afghanistan, and attacks are likely to increase this year. The report stated that the training of the Afghan army and police was progressing slowly.
The recent increase in coalition deaths could be the result of progress in a country that has been home to the Taliban, al-Qaida and other Muslim extremist groups, coalition spokesman Lt. Col. Paul Fanning said by phone from Kabul.
Newly trained Afghan army and national police units are increasingly rooting out enemy strongholds with American forces, and they sometimes encounter resistance, he said.
"It's dangerous over here," Fanning said. "That's really the bottom line."
According to the Pentagon, Palmateer and McKay were members of B Troop, 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry based in Chautauqua County.
McKay was born on the Fourth of July and is survived by a wife, a daughter and two sons. He had also served in Iraq.
Palmateer was posthumously promoted to sergeant. He moved back to Wappingers Falls from North Creek around 1994 and joined the National Guard in 2003. He will be buried next Friday in Wappingers Falls.
"He was just an amazing person, really funny, a jokester," Stephanie Palmateer said in a phone interview. "He made the absolute best out of every situation."
She recalled that her father made videos of himself dancing with local Afghans. "If I could give any advice to kids, I would say that if you have a parent over there, keep in the best touch you can. Because I'm really thankful I was able to keep in touch with him every day."
Yusko can be reached at 454-5353 or by e-mail at dyusko@timesunion.com.
By DENNIS YUSKO, Staff writer
First published: Tuesday, July 1, 2008
In an e-mail from Afghanistan, National Guard Spc. Mark C. Palmateer confided to his daughter, Stephanie, that he was about to embark on a dangerous convoy mission to Kabul.
"He just kept telling her things were getting real bad over there," Palmateer's ex-wife, Kimberly Smith, said Monday from North Creek, Warren County.
As Smith spoke, Stephanie Palmateer, who turns 20 today, was driving from North Creek to the Poughkeepsie area to grieve her father's death with relatives.
Mark Palmateer, 38, of Wappingers Falls, Dutchess County, was one of three National Guardsmen killed Thursday by an improvised explosive device, small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades in eastern Afghanistan.
The killings are part of an escalation of violence in Afghanistan, where at least 45 coalition troops were killed in June, including the first five New York Army National Guard soldiers to die in the 7-year conflict.
June also marked the second consecutive month in which militants killed more U.S. and coalition troops in Afghanistan than in Iraq, a grim milestone that analysts say underscores the Taliban's growing strength.
Also killed in last week's attack near Forward Operating Base Shank in Logar Province was Sgt. 1st Class Joseph A. McKay, 51, of Queens, and Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Hilton, 37, of Michigan, who served in that state's National Guard.
The state Division of Military and Naval Affairs announced the casualties Sunday.
The three deaths followed an enemy ambush on June 21 outside Kandahar that killed three New York Army National Guard soldiers, including Spc. Anthony Mangano, who trained the last two years in Leeds, Greene County. Services for Mangano were held Monday in Suffolk County, where he grew up.
"Once again the members of the New York Army National Guard are mourning the loss of brave soldiers who died defending their country and trying to help the people of Afghanistan," said Maj. Gen. Joseph Taluto, state adjutant general and commander of the New York National Guard.
More than 1,700 New York National Guard members, including about 200 Capital Region soldiers, have been training the Afghan army and police since April.
There are 32,000 U.S. troops in the country, including 14,000 serving with NATO forces and another 18,000 conducting training and counterinsurgency.
Since the beginning of the year, 62 American troops have been killed in Afghanistan, more than the number killed in each of the first four years of the war. The figure is on target to top last year's toll of 117 U.S. service members killed.
In Iraq, at least 31 international soldiers died in June: 29 U.S. troops and one each from the former Soviet republics of Georgia and Azerbaijan. There are 144,000 U.S. troops in Iraq and 4,000 British forces and small contingents from other nations, according to The Associated Press.
United Nations figures indicate that civilian deaths in Afghanistan have surged more than 60 percent this year, with 698 deaths in the first six months, compared to 430 in the same time period in 2007, The Associated Press reported Monday.
And a Pentagon report released Friday said Taliban forces have regrouped since being forced from power in Afghanistan, and attacks are likely to increase this year. The report stated that the training of the Afghan army and police was progressing slowly.
The recent increase in coalition deaths could be the result of progress in a country that has been home to the Taliban, al-Qaida and other Muslim extremist groups, coalition spokesman Lt. Col. Paul Fanning said by phone from Kabul.
Newly trained Afghan army and national police units are increasingly rooting out enemy strongholds with American forces, and they sometimes encounter resistance, he said.
"It's dangerous over here," Fanning said. "That's really the bottom line."
According to the Pentagon, Palmateer and McKay were members of B Troop, 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry based in Chautauqua County.
McKay was born on the Fourth of July and is survived by a wife, a daughter and two sons. He had also served in Iraq.
Palmateer was posthumously promoted to sergeant. He moved back to Wappingers Falls from North Creek around 1994 and joined the National Guard in 2003. He will be buried next Friday in Wappingers Falls.
"He was just an amazing person, really funny, a jokester," Stephanie Palmateer said in a phone interview. "He made the absolute best out of every situation."
She recalled that her father made videos of himself dancing with local Afghans. "If I could give any advice to kids, I would say that if you have a parent over there, keep in the best touch you can. Because I'm really thankful I was able to keep in touch with him every day."
Yusko can be reached at 454-5353 or by e-mail at dyusko@timesunion.com.
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