American killed in Afghanistan was Air Force investigator

U.S. Air Force Major Adrianna Vorderbruggen is believed to have been the first openly gay active duty servicewoman to be killed in action, after she died in Afghanistan this Monday.

Less than a week before the holiday, six families are mourning the loss of their loved ones who died when a Taliban suicide bomber drove a motorcycle packed with explosives into a U.S-Afghan air patrol.

Maj. Adrianna M. Vorderbruggen, 36, of Plymouth, Minnesota.

With tears in her eyes, Air Force Special Agent Heather Garver spoke before roughly 300 mourners who attended the ceremony inside a tent at the base.

“My son, Chef Jon’s brother, Staff Sergeant Peter Taub was one of six killed yesterday in Afghanistan”, the owner of the Taub family sandwich shop in Washington, D.C., wrote on Facebook.

Among the dead was Staff Sgt. Peter W. Taub, 30, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a member of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.

The other airmen who were killed are Staff Sergeant Louis Bonacasa of Coram, New York; Staff Sergeant Michael Cinco of Mercedes, Texas; and Staff Sergeant Chester McBride from Statesboro, Georgia. The “Chair Force” is much maligned by other services for working in cushy air conditioned offices, enjoying lush golf courses and visitors’ quarters on base, and flying drones from the comfort and safety of a warehouse.

A New York City detective who was killed in a suicide attack in Afghanistan was mourned Tuesday as a selfless public servant and a devoted family man, while a second victim was identified as a Long Island man. “On behalf of all of us, I offer my deepest condolences to their families, friends, and fellow airmen”.

“Staff Sgt. Joe Lemm served this nation with the selflessness and bravery that embodies the U.S. Armed forces and the NYPD”, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement.

Lemm, 45, lived in suburban West Harrison with his wife, Christine, and two children, a teenage daughter and a young son. A one-time high school football star and state champion, McBride kept close ties with his old coaches.

Taub was inspired to join the Air Force by his grandfather, a World War II vet. The Staff Sgt. had been in the Air Force for six years.

Taub was deployed to Afghanistan in October.

Retired Navy Commander Zoe Dunning remembered her friend Vorderbruggen as a “fighter”, and said to NBC News, “Her death in some ways signifies women, gays and lesbians are truly equal”.

His son told his family he was in Saudi Arabia because he didn’t want to worry them, Taub said. He left behind a pregnant wife and a 3-year-old daughter, according to The Associated Press.

Lemm, who was married and had two children, had worked for the New York City Police Dept. for 15 years, and became a detective for the Bronx in January 2014, according to New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton.