In our July 26 edition, we published the first piece in our Hometown Heroes series, titled, “Called to Duty.” It was a story about Plant City native U.S. Army Pfc. Ben Secor, who currently is stationed in Afghanistan, and how his family is handling his absence.
As a member of the Fourth Brigade Fourth Infantry Division Brigade Special Troops Battalion, Secor’s job was to protect Brig. Sgt. Maj. Kevin Griffin.
On Aug. 8, an insurgent wearing a suicide vest detonated the device, killing Griffin, Army Maj. Thomas E. Kennedy and U.S. Air Force Maj. Walter D. Gray, in Sarkowi, Kunar province, Afghanistan.
Secor suffered shrapnel wounds but is OK.
Two days after the attack, Secor wrote on Facebook: “I’m doing OK. Pretty sore, but I will be OK. They are treating me well. It sucks about the heroes. It was tragic; they will never be forgotten.”
Griffin, of Riverton, Wyo., was the highest-ranking soldier from Fort Carson, Colo., to be killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was just 45 years old. He had been deployed to Afghanistan since March 13. It was his first deployment in the country after serving three tours in Iraq. He also had served in Kuwait and the Balkans during his career.
— Michael Eng