A New York Air National Guard member was one of six American service members killed Monday in a suicide attack in Afghanistan. Staff Sgt. Joe Lemm, 45, a New York City police detective, is the only victim of the attack identified as of this morning.
A second New York Air Guardsman also died in the incident, according to some reports. However, no name has been officially released.
Two other Americans were wounded when a bomb carried by a motorcycle exploded near them as they took part in a joint patrol with Afghan soldiers near Bagram Air Base. Reports say three Afghan troops were injured. The Taliban have claimed responsibility.
Lemm becomes the 780th Guardsman to die supporting the war on terrorism. He is the first Guardsman serving in the theater of operations to die since Master Sgt. David L. Poirier, a New Hampshire Air Guardsman, was killed in a noncombat-related incident in Qatar Feb. 28, 2014.
“Earlier today we lost one of our finest,” New York Police Commissioner William Bratton said.
New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said in a statement, “Staff Sgt. Joe Lemm was committed to his fellow Americans, and embodied the selflessness and bravery of the U.S. Armed Forces and the NYPD.”
President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Ash Carter also paid tribute to the victims. Carter said the attack is “a painful reminder of the dangers our troops face every day in Afghanistan.”
Before the attack Monday, 15 American service members had been killed serving in Afghanistan in 2015, according to iCasualties, a website that tracks combat deaths.
Lemm was a member of the 105th Airlift Wing and had been deployed previously to Afghanistan and Iraq. He and his wife, Christine DeGuisto, had two children, Brook, 17, and Ryan, 4.