Las Vegas Sun

April 26, 2024

6 U.S. airmen killed in Afghanistan crash ID’d

The Department of Defense has identified the six American airmen killed when a U.S. Air Force military transport plane crashed in eastern Afghanistan.

The airmen were identified Saturday as: Capt. Jonathan Golden, 33, of Camarillo, Calif.; Capt. Jordan Pierson, 28, of Abilene, Texas; Staff Sgt. Ryan Hammond, 26, of Moundsville, W.Va.; Senior Airman Quinn Johnson-Harris, 21, of Milwaukee; Senior Airman Nathan Sartain, 29, of Pensacola, Fla.; and Airman 1st Class Kcey Ruiz, 21, of McDonough, Ga.

Golden, Pierson, Hammond and Johnson-Harris were based at Dyess Air Force Base in Abilene. Sartain and Ruiz were based at Hanscom Air Force Base in Massachusetts.

Also killed: five civilian passengers and an unknown number of people on the ground.

The cause of the early Friday crash remains under investigation.

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