Civilian victims worked for Halliburton

KABUL, Afghanistan – Three civilians killed when a U.S. military helicopter crashed in Afghanistan last week were employees of Halliburton Co., the U.S. military said Wednesday. Fifteen U.S. service members also were killed.

A military statement identified the civilian victims as Ronald Wade, 46, of Emory, Texas; Lance Bret Taylor, 56, of Spring Valley, Calif.; and Sy Jason Lucio, 28, of Clyde, Ohio. All worked for Halliburton subsidiary KBR.

The Houston-based company said Wade was a foreman and Lucio an electrician.

The CH-47 Chinook crashed in an April 6 sandstorm about 80 miles south of Kabul. It was the deadliest incident for Americans in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

The 15 military victims included Cheney native and Clint Prather, 32, a chief warrant officer and helicopter pilot in the Army.

The helicopter crashed while returning to the main U.S. base at Bagram from a mission to deliver mail and supplies and transport personnel in the insurgency-plagued south.