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While We Grieve, Their Brothers Stand Guard

JINSA joins all Americans in mourning the loss of 31 of our best warriors who perished in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan on Saturday, August 6.

We extend our deepest condolences to their families, to their friends, and to their teammates and commands.

Those who died had demonstrated time and again that if called upon they would lay down their lives for their country and for the principles they believed in.

JINSA joins all Americans in mourning the loss of 31 of our best warriors who perished in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan on Saturday, August 6.

We extend our deepest condolences to their families, to their friends, and to their teammates and commands.

Those who died had demonstrated time and again that if called upon they would lay down their lives for their country and for the principles they believed in.

JINSA has engaged in programming to both support our Special Operations troops and to foster understanding of the character and dedication of these elite fighting men. Over the years, we have had the opportunity (as we were encouraged many times) to "get to know our people." We have been honored to do exactly that. To get to know them and to take what we learned back to our members.

What did we learn and what did we see? The personification of values that we all must respect and aspire to – honor, integrity and brotherhood. Bravery, patriotism and flat out guts. A special definition of American Exceptionalism.

We have also learned that every Navy SEAL, every Air Force Combat Controller, every Army Special Operations pilot and crewman would get on that helicopter again asking only that we make sure their families are cared for should they not return.

Their deaths are also a sober reminder that we are still at war and young American servicemen and women continue to put their lives on the line every day far from home. Some pay the ultimate price. Others are grievously wounded. While deaths in this 10-year-old war still occur, lately they have hardly elicited comment. But the death of so many at once and from such elite units is shocking. It must spur reflection on the sacrifices made by the SEALs and their families. In this war, U.S. Naval Special Warfare has borne a very heavy burden.