PORT HENRY -- Military officials say three U.S. Army Reserve soldiers from upstate New York have been killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan.
The Department of Defense on Monday identified the soldiers as 29-year-old Staff Sgt. Dain Venne of Port Henry, 22-year-old Spc. Ryan Jayne of Campbell and 27-year-old Spc. Brett E. Gornewicz of Alden.
The Department of Defense says the hree soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
The Pentagon says they died of wounds suffered Saturday when enemy forces attacked their unit with an improvised explosion device in Paktia province.
They were a attached to the 444th unit in theater and members of the 479th Engineering Battalion, Watertown, N.Y., of the 411th Engineering Brigade, New Windsor, N.Y.
A relative tells the Evening Tribune of Hornell that Jayne was home on leave visiting relatives in Steuben County and left to return to Afghanistan last Monday. Venne was from Essex County and Gornewicz was from the Buffalo area.
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has directed that flags on state government buildings be flown at half-staff on Wednesday, November 7th, in honor of the soliders.
(Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.)
