E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSA U.S .Navy SEAL is being praised as a fallen hero after he died during the rescue of an American doctor kidnapped by the Taliban in Afghanistan. NBC's Atia Abawi reports.
Updated at 12:01 p.m. ET: The Pentagon on Monday identified the U.S. Navy SEAL who was killed in the rescue of an American doctor in Afghanistan as a highly-decorated 10-year veteran from Pennsylvania.
U.S. Navy
Navy Seal Nicolas D. Checque
Twenty-eight-year-old Petty Officer 1st Class Nicolas D. Checque, of Monroeville, died Sunday of combat-related injuries sustained while supporting operations in Afghanistan, the Pentagon said in a release.
Checque was assigned to an East Coast-based Naval Special Warfare command, the statement said. Checque had been awarded the Bronze Star, among many other commendations, the release said.
The rescue operation was launched when coalition forces reported that Dr. Dilip Joseph was in imminent danger.
Joseph, who worked with the non-profit Morning Star Development of Colorado Springs, was kidnapped Wednesday along with two Afghan staff members -- one is part of the medical team, the other part of the support team. Joseph has been the non-profit’s medical adviser for three years.
Morning Star said the team of three had been returning from a visit to one of its rural medical clinics when the kidnappers stopped their vehicle. The three were then taken to a mountainous area about 50 miles from the Pakistan border, Morning Star said.
Related: Kidnapped American rescued from Taliban, coalition says
Contact between the hostages, their captors and the non-profit's crisis management team started immediately, according to a statement on Morning Star's website. On Saturday evening, two of the hostages were released. The two men then made their way out of the area and were taken to a police station.
At least six people were reported killed in the operation to rescue Joseph, the third hostage. It is unclear whether that number includes the American soldier. Morning Star said the two staff members were released earlier.
In a statement Sunday evening, President Barack Obama said: “Yesterday, our special operators in Afghanistan rescued an American citizen in a mission that was characteristic of the extraordinary courage, skill and patriotism that our troops show every day.”
Two Taliban leaders were reportedly taken into custody.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta issued a statement Sunday evening commending the U.S. Special Operations that carried out the raid. He said he was deeply saddened by the SEAL’s death.
“I also want to extend my condolences to his family, teammates and friends,” Panetta said
/
More than ten years after the beginning of the war, Afghanistan faces external pressure to reform as well as ongoing internal conflicts.
Jim Miklaszewski is the chief Pentagon correspondent for NBC News.
More world stories from NBC News:
- Suspect in US envoy's killing in Libya arrested in Egypt
- DJs in prank call over royal birth suspended
- Climate talks end with deal that's 'not where we want to be'
- PhotoBlog: Hero's welcome for Hamas leader back from exile
- Secretary of state talk opens Rice to criticism -- from left
- Video: Penguins in Tokyo take over as Santa’s elves
Follow World News from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook
Leave a Comment:
So sorry to hear of the lost of a great Seal. Only wish it could have been the Dumass Dr who got him killed.
What an odd post!
I wish the Seal had not lost his life too. But, I certainly don't wish that the Dr. would have died. How strange your thought process.
Sasha
He was one of our very best. You should be so honorable. When was the last time you laid your life on the line for anything? We should honor our veterans always as they are the ones who laid it on the line for all of us who believe in freedom. FREEDOM is the greatest of all rights. Unfortunately, it often doesn't come without great cost. On Veteran's Day I'm always in awe when I go to be with my father at the cemetery. I live in a small town yet there are thousands of U.S. flags on the graves of our veterans. There are so many, many flags and it makes me proud not only that I served my country like my father but that we honor and give thanks to our veteran's for the greatest gift of all.....FREEDOM!
Oh, I see, I should lay my life on the line for a CIA/heroin operation known as Enduring Freedom(OEF-A)? Maybe you're a fvcking moron, but if you're not you should have some sneaking suspicions as to why heroin production is up at historic levels, why the innocent country of Afghanistan was targeted in the first place (when it was a Pakistani plot in the first place operated out of German terror cells), and why we're still there even though the "surge" (as they all do) has failed. My family also happens to be a family of veterans, however, I would shake a WWII veteran's hand, yet piss on a Khmer Rouge veteran's grave. Get the difference?
We're the terrorists today.
Sasha - We went to Afghanistan after terrorists there after 9/11. Duh!
Now, as for the rest of your post, you do not know the details enough to state what you have. You sound like a terrrorist toward America. Perhaps you shouldn't live here any longer.
AllPeopleRights - you literally failed to address any of my points, please try again.
You are not worth the time of day.
Stop-Loss, thank you for a well stated post!
I hope they shot dead every scumbag they found....even the left over ones crawling around RIP Thankyou for protecting us even thought we dont have a clue what you do daily
I don't think the seals should have been sent in there. The doctor know or should have know the risks he was taking when he went there. The ransom of $100,000 should have been paid by the doctor's family if they wanted him back. It's too bad a young man in his prime of life had to be sacrificed. My sympathies to his family.
Yeah, uh huh? You're right and everybody else is wrong. You need some serious help!
Nice try with the hate mongering Newsvine mail chump. but I'm not buying it. You've already been reported so your Newsvine days are numbered. You want to harass somebody, at least have the cajones to keep it on the site instead of trying to slip hatefull comments into somebody's e-mail. I'm through with your worthless hate filled rants and will answer no more of your trash. Go bother somebody else loser! You are hopeless and still with no clue. Goodbye and have a rotten day!
You just do not get it and never will! You have no argument! Goodbye for the last time!
Hasta la vista Axiom!
This doctor wasn't worth 6 lives ~ especially not worth
this young Seals life!!!
The doctor was a captive for a short while;
whereas, U.S Army soldier Bowe Bergdahl has been a prisoner by Taliban
for over 3 years! (abused, beaten, starved)
As for Private Bergdahl..the govt is using the 'useless diplomatic' approach to
securing his return to the U.S...
Why the Seal Extraction for this one doctor...
but use the useless diplomats for the Private.
PERFECT example that RANK has its priveledges over a young GI.
I don't think any civilian American should be going to this dung heap of a country. Getting American soldiers killed for their need to help these people is a waste. I blame the doctor for going and then asking for help. Nothing is going to change the mindset of these people. The women would be better off dead than being forced to live under the domination of these barbaric and cowardly men.
Another American life is lost trying to give these animals a better life. Afghanistan has never, and will never have anything to offer the rest of the world. If America chooses to stay in Afghanistan, the war needs to become less about nation building, and more about teaching the Afghans a lesson and making an example of them for the rest of the world to see what happens when you support those who take American lives on American soil.
Comonsenz, you are right. My feeling is that this individual never had the cajones to even try. He certainly never would have made it past the first week of basic before being given the boot prior to being given a blanket party!
Another brave American Seal has given his life to save another..My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends and fellow Navy Seals..He has surely gone on to be with our Lord in a better place. God Bless men and women who have the character of First Class Nick Checque..
Leave the media out of the Seal and Spec War communities. You are endangering other operators and their families with this ad campaign.
What a waste of a fine soldier ! The doctor should have known that it is dangerous to be there-the natives resent foreign presence and occupation of their country and fight back any way they can. Because a team was sent out to rescue him tells me that he was more than a doctor -probably a spy. France made the right move and left Afganistan-smart. We are there longer than WW II lasted. 9/11 was a hoax, anyway, to keep us in endless wars with the Muslim World to enrich the war profiteers.Moneymaking is at the root of all current wars-shame that such fine men need to die for NOTHING.
Joe, first of all Petty Officer Checque was a fine SAILOR not a soldier! SEALs are U.S. Navy not U.S. Army! A small point maybe, but meaningful nonetheless to many sailors past and present. Simply because the doctor's location happened to be known to the proper authorities does not in any way imply that the man was in fact a spy or that there was come sort of conspiracy as you imply! Please inform us all in your esteemed and knowledgeable awareness of things how 9/11 was a hoax? Somehow I cannot believe that you are that stupid. 3,000+ men, women, and children are dead as a result and you call it a hoax? Get real Do you believe the Holocaust in WWII was a hoax too!
By the way, that heroic young man did not die for NOTHING! He was a volunteer who died doing what he loved and was fully aware of the risks involved. Believe in your conspiracy theories all you want but do not dishonor this young man's sacrifice and devotion to duty at this time and place trying to tie him into them.