The Pentagon said Tuesday that coalition forces have found the body of a sailor from Coronado who was killed last week in eastern Afghanistan and identified a second sailor missing in the incident as having San Diego ties.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin Jacob McNeley, 30 — the father of two young boys, 8 and 4 — died in a firefight with the Taliban after the two sailors drove an armored sport utility vehicle down the wrong road and into an enemy-held area.
Petty Officer 3rd Class Jarod Newlove, 25, was captured and is being held “where he will not be found,” according to dispatches reported to be from the Taliban.
Both men were working as instructors at a counterinsurgency school for Afghan security forces. The school is headquartered in Kabul and has classrooms outside the capital, but it was unclear why the sailors were in the eastern province of Logar.
McNeley volunteered for hazardous duty instead of staying back with his Coronado boat unit, where he served as a hull technician. He was a tall sailor with a mustache and tattoos running down his forearms, according to photographs from before he deployed in May 2009.
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