Pentagon Identifies 7 Army Casualties (OEF)

News in Balance:

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30, 2009 -- The following news release made available Thursday by the U.S. Department of Defense is the text of a statement identifying casualties:

The Department of Defense announced today the deaths of seven soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They died Oct. 26 of wounds suffered when the MH-47 helicopter they were aboard crashed in Darreh-ye Bum, Afghanistan.

Killed were five soldiers assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 160th Special Operations Regiment (Airborne), Hunter Army Airfield, Ga.:

• Chief Warrant Officer Michael P. Montgomery, 36, of Savannah, Ga.

• Chief Warrant Officer Niall Lyons, 40, of Spokane, Wash.

• Staff Sgt. Shawn H. McNabb, 24, of Terrell, Texas.

• Sgt. Josue E. Hernandez Chavez, 23, of Reno, Nev.

• Sgt. Nikolas A. Mueller, 26, of Little Chute, Wisc.

Also killed were two soldiers assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, N.C.:

• Sgt. 1st Class David E. Metzger, 32, of San Diego.

• Staff Sgt. Keith R. Bishop, 28, of Medford, N.Y.

(Report from a U.S. Defense Department news release.)