The US Army has now identified five Americans killed in a helicopter crash Thursday near the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh during a routine mission while serving as part of the peacekeeping Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) in Egypt. The MFO has been monitoring the four-decade-old Israeli-Egyptian peace agreement with 13 countries contributing to the mission.
According to CNN, the five Americans are identified as: Capt. Seth Vernon Vandekamp, 31 of Katy, Texas; Chief Warrant Officer 3 Dallas Gearld Garza, 34, of Fayetteville, North Carolina; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Marwan Sameh Ghabour, 27, of Marlborough, Massachusetts; Staff Sgt. Kyle Robert McKee, 35, of Painesville, Ohio; and Sgt. Jeremy Cain Sherman, 23, of Watseka, Illinois.
Also killed in the crash were one French and one Czech national. The Czech national was Sgt. Maj. Michaela Ticha, “the first Czech female soldier killed in a foreign mission since the Velvet Revolution in 1989.”
The Commander in Chief — presently on the golf course — has not yet had the opportunity to make a public comment on the tragedy.
Our condolences to the family and friends of the men and the woman who have given their lives for their countries’ important mission.
