Soldiers Who Died In Crash Remembered By Families

Some of the families of the 30 fallen soldiers who died after their helicopter was shot down Aug. 6 in Afghanistan have come forward to talk to various news organizations about their loved ones.

While one story is fairly local, all seem to hit very close to home:

Kraig Vickers was going to turn 37 years old on Aug. 11. The Navy Bomb Disposal Team member attended Maui High School and was a formidable football player, his former coach Curtis Lee told the Maui News.

"He played middle linebacker, so he was really smart, the quarterback of the defense; and when he put on his helmet, no one could match his intensity and aggressiveness," coach Lee told the Maui News.

But off the field Vickers was a Teddy bear.

"You couldn't find a nicer guy," coach Lee said.

Robert James Reeves and Jonas Kelsall had been childhood friends in Shreveport, La., where they played soccer together and graduated from Caddo Magnet High School, Kelsall's father, John, told The Times of Shreveport and KLSA-TV.

John is president and CEO of the Greater Lakewood Chamber Of Commerce located in Los Angeles County.

Both Jonas and Robert joined the military after graduation, though the 32-year-old Reeves spent a year at Louisiana State University first, his father, Jim Reeves, told the newspaper.

Reeves became a SEAL in 1999 and served on SEAL Team 6, his father said. During his many deployments, he earned four Bronze Stars and other honors.

Kelsall, 33, was one of the first members of SEAL Team 7, his father said.

He trained in San Diego and met his wife of three years, Victoria, when he was attending the University of Texas out of Basic Underwater Demolition training, his father said.

Reeves placed several American flags outside his home and his neighbors joined in, many decorating their homes in red, white and blue in support of the families.

"He didn't have to go; he wanted to go because his group was getting deployed. He wanted to be there for them. That's him for you," said Chris Hamburger, brother of Patrick Hamburger, a 30-year-old sergeant from Grand Island, Neb., who joined the Nebraska National Guard when he was a senior at Lincoln Southeast High School.

Chris told The Associated Press, "It doesn't come as a total surprise that he was trying to help people and that's how it all ended up happening."

The sergeant had been in Afghanistan less than two weeks and had arrived at Forward Operating Base Shank a few days before climbing aboard the helicopter with U.S. Navy SEALs and other troops to rush to the aid of a U.S. Army Ranger unit under fire from insurgents.

Michael Strange, 25, decided to join the military when he was still in high school, and had been in the Navy for about six years, first stationed in Hawaii and for the last two in Virginia Beach, where he became a SEAL about two years ago, his mother, Elizabeth Strange, told The Associated Press.

"He wasn't supposed to die this young. He was supposed to be safe," his mother told The Associated Press. "And he told me that and I believed him. I shouldn't have believed him because I know better. He would say 'Mom, don't be ridiculous and worry so much. I'm safe.'"

The young SEAL was supposed to be home for Thanksgiving.

"It was going to be such a good time," his mother said.

An Air Force technical sergeant, John Brown was a sports star.

He was a "gentle giant" who "just loved anything physical, anything athletic,” Brown’s mother Elizabeth Newlun told The Associated Press.

Newlun said her son played football and basketball in high school and went to John Brown University on a swimming scholarship. He had wanted to go into the medical field and become a nurse anesthetist, but decided to join the military after seeing a video of a special tactical unit, she said.

The airman was a paramedic and ready to attend to the medical needs of anyone who was rescued, his mother said.

"He was a tough warrior, but he was a gentle man,” Geneva Vaughn of Union City, Tenn., told The Associated Press about her grandson, Aaron Carson Vaughn, 30.

"Aaron was a Christian and he's with Jesus today," she said. "He told us when we saw him last November that he wasn't afraid ... he said, 'Granny, don't worry about me.'"

Geneva told The Associated Press that her grandson joined the SEALs straight out of boot camp and was already a decorated fighter when he was asked by the Navy to return stateside to become an instructor. But he applied to SEAL Team 6 after two years, earning his way onto the squad in 2010.

He asked the military to return him to combat and shipped out just six weeks before he was killed, Geneva told The Associated Press.

"He was doing what he loved to do and he was a true warrior," she said.

Aaron Vaughn leaves behind his wife, Kimberly, and two children, 2-year-old son Reagan and 2-month-old daughter Chamberlyn.