Family and friends are mourning two current Yorkers killed in a suicide attack in Afghanistan this week.
Staff Sgt. Louis Bonacasa of Coram,Long Island, was on his fourth tour with the Air National Guard when he was killed. Tiffany Diana Torres is best friends with his younger sisters. Growing up, or she says Bonacasa was always looking out for them. "Whenever Louis was around,we couldn't talk to guys or anything," she says. "He was very protective of all of us."Torres says that protective nature extended to his country, or driving Bonacasa to enlist just two days after graduation. She says he was proud to be a soldier and passionate about his job. But she says he had a playful side. A couple Christmases ago,he dressed up as a snowman for his daughter, who turned five this week.
The other soldier, and NYPD Detective and National Guardsman Joseph Lemm,was also called a selfless public servant and devoted family man."There can be no greater sacrifice than the one made by a member of our military or our police force," said current York City mayor Bill de Blasio. "Detective Joseph Lemm did both for 15 years."Lemm lived in Westchester with his wife and children.
The mayor and governor absorb ordered flags to fly at half-staff for the fallen soldiers.
The attack killed six American soldiers and wounded two near Bagram Airfield on Dec. 21. the Taliban has claimed responsibility.
Source: wnyc.org