The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
Staff Sgt. Patrick H. Quinn, 26, of Quarryville, Pa., died Oct. 13, in Paktika Province, Afghanistan, of “injuries sustained when the enemy attacked his base with small arms fire.”
In other words he “was shot to death”, according to a source at the Pentagon which didn’t want to comment any further (and refused to allow me to use his name in this report out of fear apparently he would be retaliated against by higher up’s in the military for speaking out of turn).
Quinn was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group, at Fort Carson, Colorado.
The 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) is an active duty United States Army (SF) Group.
The 10th Special Forces Group is responsible for operations within the EUCOM (European Command) area of responsibility, as part of the Special Operations Command.
The 10th SF Group has been particularly active in parts of Africa and the Middle East, including Afghanistan – where they are engaged in all sorts of top secret operations and missions.
We tried to get more specific information but the Pentagon refused that request – before referring us to to the U.S. Army Special Forces public affairs office (910-908-3947. After duty hours contact 910-689-6187), which also, by the way refused to delve into any real detail about the attack on the SF base which killed Quinn on October 13th, citing “operational security reasons.” We don’t know if others were injured, if any enemy were captured or killed in the attack – nothing!
The U.S. Army Special Forces public affairs would only say that Quinn is survived by his wife and their three sons…
We attempted to find out if the military paid death benefits in this case on time (because of the government shutdown) and was told “that is none of our business.”
The White House also refused comment on this particular case, specifically questions pertaining to 10th Special Forces activities in and around Paktika Province – Afghanistan.
Source: DOD Press statement http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=16314).