Karen and Billy Vaughn lost their SEAL son, Aaron, in 2011 in Afghanistan along with 16 other Navy SEALs.
This combo shows the 30 troops killed in a helicopter downing in Afghanistan on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2011. The Pentagon on Thursday, Aug. 11, 2011 identified the Americans as 17 members of the elite Navy SEALs, five Naval Special Warfare personnel who support the SEALs, three Air Force Special Operations personnel and an Army helicopter crew of five. (AP Photo)
At the funeral service in Afghanistan an Islamic cleric disparaged in Arabic the memory of these servicemen by damning them as infidels to Allah.
On May 9, 2013, Billy and Karen Vaughn and other families of fallen American heroes held a press conference demanding a Congressional Hearing to investigate the death of their sons in the military operation, commonly referred to as Extortion 17.
Their cries have been heard. Americans all across the nation banded together with the Vaughns, and on February 27th, Congress will hold a one-day hearing on the devastating details behind the fatal operation leading to the death of 30 Americans.
On August 6, 2011, a U.S. Boeing CH-47D Chinook military helicopter, carrying special operations officers sent to reinforce Army Rangers under fire, was shot down in the Wardak Province, Afghanistan, killing 30 of our soldiers – 22 of whom were part of Navy SEAL Team VI; the team who took down Osama Bin Laden.
Only months before, Vice-President Joe Biden betrayed Navy SEAL Team VI after publically crediting them to the killing of Osama Bin Laden. This put members of the special ops community, and their families, in grave danger.
The shoot down of Extortion 17 resulted in the greatest loss of U.S. military lives in a single incident in the twelve-year war in Afghanistan that began in 2001, and the greatest single loss in the history of the Navy SEALs.
The Vaughns, parents of slain U.S. Navy SEAL Aaron Vaughn, demanded answers from military leaders and the Obama administration after reading the 1,200-page heavily redacted document provided to them after their son’s death.
Questions demanding to be answered during the Congressional Hearing will include:
– Why our special operations forces were sent into an active battle zone in an outdated Chinook transport helicopter, as opposed to the MH47’s with which they trained.
– Why the U.S. military has permitted the Afghan military and police to be part of every planned military operation executed in this war on terror.
– Why our military’s rules of engagement under Obama’s administration has caused the casualty rate of our American heroes to skyrocket.
After the hearing on February 27th, America will be one step closer to saving the lives of future men and women who answer the call to serve our nation.
