Major from Plymouth among 6 dead in Afghanistan attack
Updated: Dec. 23, 7:24 a.m. | Posted: Dec. 22, 8:06 p.m.
A 36-year-old from suburban Minneapolis is one of six American troops who were killed in a suicide attack near Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan.
The U.S. Department of Defense on Tuesday released the identities of the troops killed in the attack. Among them was Maj. Adrianna M. Vorderbruggen of Plymouth.
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Vorderbruggen was assigned to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, 9th Field Investigations Squadron, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.
The group Military Partners and Families Coalition posted a memorial for Vorderbruggen on its Facebook page on Tuesday. The group said she left behind her wife Heather Lamb and 4-year-old son Jacob.
"She was one of the most friendly and laid-back people you could ever hope to meet and was an accomplished airman, a great athlete, and most of all, a wonderful mom," according to the group's memorial. "She leaves an indelible legacy of strength and selflessness to all those touched by her life."
Military Partners and Families Coalition was founded in 2011 to support gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual military families. Vorderbruggen and her wife were involved from the start.
The couple married in June 2012, following the repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Lamb told The Associated Press at the time that neither the marriage nor other military recognition of the family would have been possible without the repeal.
Her father, Joseph Vorderbruggen, told the AP his daughter "loved life" and "loved the military." He said, "Whatever goal she had, she found a way."
Officials said the soldiers were targeted as they moved through a village near Bagram Airfield, the largest U.S. military facility in Afghanistan. The Taliban claimed responsibility.
Also killed in the attack, according to the United States Department of Defense, was 28-year-old Staff Sgt. Michael A. Cinco of Texas, 30-year-old Staff Sgt. Peter W. Taub of Pennsylvania, 30-year-old Staff Sgt. Chester J. McBride of Georgia, 45-year-old Technical Sgt. Joseph G. Lemm of New York and 31-year-old Staff Sgt. Louis M. Bonacasa of New York.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.