Remains of two U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan bomb accident arrive in Germany

By DAVID McHUGH
Associated Press Writer

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany – The remains of two Special Forces soldiers killed in Afghanistan by an errant U.S. bomb arrived late Thursday at a U.S. military base in Germany. A soldier injured in the accident arrived earlier and underwent hours of surgery.

The C-141 transport plane carrying the Army Green Beret soldiers' remains, along with those of a sailor who died Tuesday after a fall on his ship, touched down at Ramstein Air Base just before 11 p.m. (5 p.m. EST).

Three hearses were standing by to carry the remains to the mortuary at a nearby U.S. military hospital. An honor guard was also waiting at the airfield to perform a brief ceremony.

Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Petithory, 32, of Massachusetts and Staff Sgt. Brian Cody Prosser, 28, of California were two of three soldiers killed Wednesday when the one-ton bomb, intended to hit Taliban forces making their last stand near Kandahar, landed about 100 yards from their position. Six Afghan anti-Taliban fighters also died.

One of the 20 U.S. soldiers wounded in the accident arrived earlier Thursday at the military hospital, the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.

The soldier, who wasn't identified, underwent four to five hours of surgery by a team including orthopedic and neurosurgeons, said Maj. Mark Ervin, a surgeon at the hospital.

"The patient has been returned to the intensive care unit and remains in a guarded condition," Ervin said. "It will be 48 to 72 hours before we have a firm grasp on his prognosis."

Arrangements were being made to bring another 14 of the injured to Landstuhl on Friday, said Lt. Col. Ed Loomis, a spokesman for U.S. European Command.

All but three of the Americans wounded in the bombing accident were evacuated from the scene, first to a U.S. Marine base south of Kandahar and then out of Afghanistan. The injuries to the 17 taken outside of Afghanistan "vary from moderate to severe," a statement from U.S. Central Command said.

It was unclear when the remains of those killed would be flown home and whether the remains of the third U.S. soldier killed, Master Sgt. Jefferson Donald Davis, 39, of Tennessee, would be brought to Germany.

Meanwhile, eighteen Afghan anti-Taliban fighters injured in the incident were being treated on U.S. Navy ships in the Arabian Sea, the statement said. Eight were on the USS Peleliu and 10 aboard the USS Bataan.

The sailor was identified as Fireman Apprentice Michael J. Jakes Jr, 20, of New York City. Loomis said he died Tuesday of head injuries sustained in a fall from his bunk on the carrier USS Kitty Hawk.

The Landstuhl hospital last week treated five Special Forces soldiers who were injured during a violent three-day uprising at a fortress in Mazar-e-Sharif where Taliban captives were being held. They were hurt by a U.S. bomb that missed its target after the team had called in airstrikes in support of northern alliance forces.

Landstuhl also treated four crewmen whose helicopter crash-landed in Afghanistan in early November and about 20 others for illness or non-combat injuries.

APNP-12-06-01 1619CST