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US Soldier Killed In Afghanistan Friendly-Fire Incident ID'ed As California Native

Army Spc. Terry J. Hurne
U.S. Army
Army Spc. Terry J. Hurne

Army Spc. Terry J. Hurne, 34, was one of five U.S. troops killed in a friendly-fire incident in Afghanistan, his father, Norman Hurne confirmed to The Associated Press.

Ghulam Sakhi Rogh Lewanai, the police chief in Zabul, told The Los Angeles Times:

Afghan and international forces had carried out a joint operation against Taliban fighters in Arghandab on Monday. At the end of the day, the forces returned to their base, where at about 9 p.m. they came under fire from Taliban rockets, Rogh Lewanai said.

Coalition forces on the ground called for airstrikes against the Taliban, which mistakenly hit the Afghan and international troops, he said.
The Department of Defense announced Hurne's death Tuesday, saying he died as the result of "a non-combat related incident."

He was assigned to the 710th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, New York.

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Hurne grew up in Merced, California and graduated from Atwater High School in 1998. Norman Hurne told the Merced Star-Sun that his son was just weeks away from returning home:

“He couldn’t discuss what he was doing over there, but he was looking forward to getting out of there.

"He was trying to make the best of every day.”
Terry Hurne and his wife of eight years, Natalie, planned to drive cross-country from Fort Drum to Merced when he returned from Afghanistan. They were due to arrive back home on the Fourth of July.

Norman Hurne said of his son:

“Everybody loved him. He always had a smile on his face.

“I’m going through memories right now, all the way through his childhood.”