Excerpts from the ChicagoTribune.com:
Unable to afford the cost of college, Henry “Mitch” Mayfield Jr. left Northern Illinois University after a year and joined the Army hoping to jump-start his future. Mayfield Jr., a 23-year-old Army specialist from Hazel Crest, and two other Americans, both contractors with the U.S. Department of Defense, were killed at Manda Bay Airfield by al-Shabab extremists, who claimed responsibility for the attack.
Mayfield Jr. attended Hillcrest High School in Country Club Hills before enrolling at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb. He spent one year at NIU studying business before running short on funding for his education and enlisting in the Army. His decision to join the Army in August 2017 at age 20 was informed both by a desire to build a better future for himself and a sense of duty to serve others.
He had been in Kenya since October, where he worked installing, maintaining, and repairing heating and cooling systems. Before that, he was stationed at Fort Rucker in Alabama, where he served as an air traffic services mechanic with the 164th Theater Airfield Operations Group of the Army’s 1st Battalion, 58th Aviation Regiment.
Al-Shabab, based in neighboring Somalia, claimed responsibility for the assault, in which they overran a key military base used by U.S. counterterror forces, killing three and destroying several U.S. aircraft and vehicles. It was the al-Qaida-linked group’s first attack against U.S. forces in the East African country, and the military called the security situation fluid several hours after the assault, which also left five of the attackers dead.
The latest attack comes just over a week after an al-Shabab truck bomb in Somalia’s capital killed at least 79 people and U.S. airstrikes killed seven al-Shabab fighters in response. Last year, al-Shabab attacked a U.S. military base inside Somalia, Baledogle, that is used to launch drone strikes but reportedly failed to make their way inside. The extremist group also has carried out multiple attacks against Kenyan troops in the past in retaliation for Kenya sending troops to Somalia to fight it.
Tim Olk photo
Tim Olk photo
Tim Olk photo
Tim Olk photo
Tim Olk photo
Tim Olk photo
