Family identifies US soldier killed in attack on Kenyan military base
"He told me everything would be OK. Those were his last words to me."
A 23-year old Army Specialist based at Fort Rucker was among the three people killed in an attack on a U.S. military base in Kenya Sunday.
The family of Henry “Mitch” Mayfield Jr. confirmed to NBC Chicago that he died in the assault at Manda Bay Airfield. Two Department of Defense contractors were also killed. The Department of Defense has not confirmed the identifies of those killed in the attack. Mayfield was a native of Chicago who joined the Army in 2018.
Mayfield's Facebook page lists him as being posted at Fort Rucker.
“He loved his family and spending quality time with his siblings,” Carmoneta, Mayfield's mother, told the Chicago station. “I last spoke with him New Year's Day via FaceTime. We discussed him not having to go to Somalia and he told me everything was good and safe at his base.
“He told me everything would be OK. Those were his last words to me,” she said.
Sunday's attack came from the militant group al-Shabab and followed a U.S. strike that killed Iranian Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.
Later on Monday afternoon, the Department of Defense confirmed Mayfield's identity. The Evergreen Park, Illinois native was assigned to 1st Battalion, 58th Aviation Regiment, 164th Theater Airfield Operations Group, which is based in Fort Rucker, Alabama, DoD said in a statement.
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