N.Y. soldier, other leaders killed in Afghanistan suicide attack

N.Y. soldier, other leaders killed in Afghanistan suicide attack

Gov. Cuomo has directed that flags on state government buildings be flown at half-staff on Tuesday, August 14, in honor of a New York soldier who died in Afghanistan.

A suicide bombing in Afghanistan killed several senior military leaders, including an Army officer from New York, the Department of Defense announced.

Army Maj. Thomas E. Kennedy, 35, of West Point, N.Y., Army Command Sgt. Maj. Kevin J. Griffin, 45, of Laramie, Wyo., and Air Force Maj. Walter D. Gray, 38, of Conyers, Ga., died when an insurgent wearing a vest of explosives detonated in Sarkowi, Kunar province, on August 8, 2012, the Pentagon said.

Army Col. James J. Mingus was badly wounded in the attack, according to reports.

Kennedy and Griffin were assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, based out of Fort Carson, outside Colorado Springs, Colo.

Kennedy was raised in New City, in Rockland County. A residents in Kennedy's former neighborhood said the soldier's father is a retired NYPD officer. Kennedy joined the Army in 2000 and served two tours in Iraq, the AP reported. He had just deployed to Afghanistan in July.

Mingus is the commander of the 4th Brigade, and Griffin was the command sergeant major of the brigade.

Gray was assigned to the 13th Air Support Operations Squadron, also based at Fort Carson.