U.S. Strikes Back
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3 Green Berets remembered by families
12/05/2001By GREG SUKIENNIK
Associated Press Writer
 Daniel H. Petithory AP Photo |
The three Green Berets killed in an accident Wednesday in Afghanistan were proud leaders who loved the Army, family members and friends remembered.
Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Petithory, 32, who grew up in western Massachusetts, ``always wanted to be an Army man,'' said his brother, Michael. ``He was born to do it.''
The communications specialist, who had also served in the Gulf War, proudly wore his Green Beret uniform when he made trips home to Cheshire, a town of 3,600 in the Berkshire Mountains near the Vermont border.
He was single and had no children, his brother said.
``He died doing a job he loved, for the country he loved,'' said his sister Nicole, 20.
Petithory, Staff Sgt. Brian Cody Prosser and Master Sgt. Jefferson Donald Davis died after a U.S. bomb missed its Taliban target north of Kandahar. All were members of the Army's 3rd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group, stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
Nineteen other U.S. soldiers were wounded in the accident. Five Afghan fighters also were killed and an undetermined number were wounded.
Prosser, 28, one of four brothers, lived in Frazier Park, a mountain town about 50 miles outside Los Angeles. He was a natural leader and top athlete who had been captain of the Maricopa High School football team, his brother said.
``He was a leader, a warrior and proud to be a soldier,'' said his 22-year-old brother, Jarudd. ``He's my role model.''
Jarudd Prosser said the family knew the risk his brother, who was married, was taking in Afghanistan, adding that when he heard he was about to leave he made sure he ``left nothing unsaid.''
``In a war, people die. It puts a lot of things in perspective,'' Jarudd Prosser said. ``It really makes me think when you care about someone, you have to tell them that.''
Davis, 39, made a career in the military. He had a wife and three children, who live in Clarksville, Tenn., just outside Fort Campbell. His parents live in Watauga.
His family was proud of his service, cousin Penny McCracken told the Johnson City (Tenn.) Press.
``He was always a good guy,'' she said.