LONG BEACH — The family of a fallen Airman has invited the public to attend his transfer of remains on Tuesday at the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos, an official said.
Staff Sgt. Andrew W. Harvell, 26, of Long Beach and a 2002 Millikan High School graduate, was killed along with 29 other U.S. military personnel Aug. 6 in Wardak province, Afghanistan, when their CH-47 Chinook helicopter was shoot down.
Harvell was a member of the 24th Special Tactics Squadron, an Air Force Special Operations Command unit based at Fort Bragg's Pope Field.
Harvell was a combat controller, coordinating air support with troops on the ground in hostile situations.
Anyone attending Tuesday's 2 p.m. service at the training base should arrive at 1:30 p.m. to allow time for parking and walking to the airfield, said Laura Herzog, founder and family support coordinator with Honoring Our Fallen.
The Harvell family also invites the public to attend a 10:30 a.m. Saturday memorial service at Forest Lawn-Long Beach, 1500 East San Antonio Drive. An internment follows at Los Angeles National Cemetery, 950 Sepulveda Blvd.
Harvell and the other servicemen were killed when Taliban insurgents shot down their Chinook helicopter in the Tangi Valley of Wardak Province, just west of Kabul, while they were on a mission.
The helicopter crash killed 38, including 30 American servicemen, seven Afghan commandos and an Afghan interpreter. It was the single
The majority of the dead military personnel were special operations forces, including members of SEAL Team 6, the unit that killed Osama bin Laden. Military officials have said none of the crash victims was on that mission in Pakistan against the al-Qaida leader.
phillip.zonkel@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1258
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