INDIANAPOLIS (AP) An Indiana soldier killed during a rescue mission in Afghanistan had been preparing to return to the United States to celebrate his daughter's tenth birthday on the Fourth of July.
Thirty-three-year-old Army Sgt. First Class Marcus Muralles was one of 16 troops killed when their Chinook helicopter was shot down Tuesday while trying to extract a missing elite military team in eastern Afghanistan.
Family members say Muralles -- a medic with the elite Night Stalkers unit -- got the assignment at the last minute when another medic suffered a leg injury.
Muralles served two stints in Iraq and three in Afghanistan and had received several military honors. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and other medals.
He'll be buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
Thirty-three-year-old Army Sgt. First Class Marcus Muralles was one of 16 troops killed when their Chinook helicopter was shot down Tuesday while trying to extract a missing elite military team in eastern Afghanistan.
Family members say Muralles -- a medic with the elite Night Stalkers unit -- got the assignment at the last minute when another medic suffered a leg injury.
Muralles served two stints in Iraq and three in Afghanistan and had received several military honors. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and other medals.
He'll be buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) An Indiana soldier killed during a rescue mission in Afghanistan had been preparing to return to the United States to celebrate his daughter's tenth birthday on the Fourth of July.
Thirty-three-year-old Army Sgt. First Class Marcus Muralles was one of 16 troops killed when their Chinook helicopter was shot down Tuesday while trying to extract a missing elite military team in eastern Afghanistan.
Family members say Muralles -- a medic with the elite Night Stalkers unit -- got the assignment at the last minute when another medic suffered a leg injury.
Muralles served two stints in Iraq and three in Afghanistan and had received several military honors. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and other medals.
He'll be buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
Thirty-three-year-old Army Sgt. First Class Marcus Muralles was one of 16 troops killed when their Chinook helicopter was shot down Tuesday while trying to extract a missing elite military team in eastern Afghanistan.
Family members say Muralles -- a medic with the elite Night Stalkers unit -- got the assignment at the last minute when another medic suffered a leg injury.
Muralles served two stints in Iraq and three in Afghanistan and had received several military honors. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and other medals.
He'll be buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
