Pentagon identifies two soldiers killed in Special Forces firefight in Afghanistan

The Pentagon has identified the two U.S. soldiers who were killed in Afghanistan on Wednesday.

Master Sgt. Micheal Riley, 32, of Heilbronn, Germany and Sgt. James Johnston, 24, of Trumansburg, New York died of wounds from a firefight in Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan.

Riley was from the 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Carson, Colorado and Johnston from the 79th Ordnance Battalion (Explosive Ordnance Disposal), part of the 71st Ordnance Group based at Fort Hood, Texas.

Col. Lawrence Ferguson, commander of Riley’s unit, said, “Mike was an experienced Special Forces non-commissioned officer and the veteran of five previous deployments to Afghanistan. We will honor his service and sacrifice as we remain steadfast in our commitment to our mission.”

Lt. Col. Stacy Enyeart, commander of 79th Ordnance Battalion (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) said Johnston “was the epitome of what we as soldiers all aspire to be: intelligent, trained, always ready.”

“This is tragic,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday in India. “My condolences go out to them. I’m praying for them, their families and for all the soldiers that were around them. I think this drives home the need for us to be successful with the missions that we have undertaken in Afghanistan as a reconciliation to reduce the level of violence, to reduce the level of risk to Afghans broadly, and the risk to American service members.”

Their deaths bring the total number of U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan in this year to ten. Riley and Johnston were also referenced during the first Democratic primary debate on Wednesday.

Hawaiian Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who serves in the National Guard, called out Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan for saying the U.S. should still be engaged in Afghanistan.

“Will you tell the parents of those two soldiers that were killed in Afghanistan that we have to be engaged? That is unacceptable. We have lost so many lives, we have spent so much money,” she said.