August 11
The remains of Army Maj. Gen. Harold J. Greene arrive on a C-17 during a “Dignified Transfer” solemn movement at Dover Air Force Base on Thursday. (Photo by Linda Davidson/The Washington Post)
At least five of the American service members who were wounded in last week’s “insider attack” in Kabul have been brought back to the United States, including one who was shot six times shielding a British colonel who was not wearing body armor at the time.
New details about the wounded are included in a casualty report about the Aug. 5 shooting that killed Maj. Gen. Harold J. Greene, the highest-ranking U.S. service member killed in the Afghan war. The wounded include at least one major and one captain, according to the report, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post.
The report does not identify the wounded but provides details about their backgrounds and their injuries.
Afghan officials have said the shooter, an Afghan army soldier, was within close range of his targets when he opened fire on members of the U.S.-led military coalition at a training base.
Among his targets was an Army specialist, a reservist from Northern California who works as a customer service manager at Apple’s Cupertino, Calif., headquarters, according to the casualty report. The reservist recounted that when the Afghan soldier opened fire, he moved to shield the British colonel.
The soldier then fired at the Afghan with his rifle and pistol, but not before being struck by six bullets fired from the Afghan’s weapon. Two bullets went into one of his legs, one tore into his shoulder and three rounds were stopped by his bulletproof vest.
The soldier had deployed three times, including once to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
One of Greene’s aides, a 31-year-old captain who volunteered for the deployment, was shot multiple times and is paralyzed below the waist.
An Army major who has performed 11 years of service and was serving as a public affairs officer was also wounded. Married with two daughters, the major had completed four combat tours, three of them with an infantry unit.
An Army captain and a Navy non-commissioned officer were also injured.
There have been dozens of insider attacks this year alone in Afghanistan. As of June, 87 such attacks had killed 142 troops with the U.S.-led coalition and wounded 165 others, according to the Long War Journal, an online publication focused on counterterrorism and Islamic radicalism.
Thomas Gibbons-Neff is a summer intern and a former U.S. infantry Marine.
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