South African Jaco Dorfling, Pacific Architects and Engineers, dies in DRC UN Plane Crash

Jaco Dorfling, 42, a former auditor in the SA Air Force, worked as a logistics manager for a US company, Pacific Architects and Engineers (PAE), which was subcontracted to the UN.

Dorfling was to spend time with his parents and children in Pretoria over the Easter weekend.

Speaking from his Sinoville home on Tuesday night, Dorfling’s father, Kallie, who last spoke to his son on Friday, battled to fight back tears.

“We were looking forward to Jaco coming home. We last saw him in January, so by the time he was coming home now, his visit would have been long overdue,” Dorfling snr said.

“His sons were extremely excited about seeing their dad. Like us, they thought he was the best thing in the world.” .

Dorfling said his son made friends easily and this summed him up best.

“Wherever he went he would make friends.

“That is just how he was. He could be in the most horrible place on Earth and he would come out of there with the best friends in the world.

“He loved his job and lived for the adventures that it took him on. His job made him truly happy and he loved the fact that he was helping to make a difference in people’s lives.”

South African Randall Quickfall, Pacific Architects and Engineers, dies in DRC UN Plane Crash

Randall Quickfall, from Heathfield, Cape Town, was among 32 people who died.

Quickfall was a project manager for the UN and travelled throughout Africa on peacekeeping missions.

He was 47.   He worked for a US company, Pacific Architects and Engineers (PAE), which was subcontracted to the UN.

Mechem Medic Petrus “Parra” van Vuuren dies in DRC UN Plane Crash

Petrus “Parra” van Vuuren, 40, a fireman from Polokwane, was working in the DRC as a medic for the South African demining company, Mechem. His brother, Andries, said that the family had learnt only on Tuesday that his “boeta” was heading home.

“We knew he was coming back, but he told us that he was coming at the end of the month. Every time we asked him for a date he would mumble something and then change the subject,” he said.

“He lived for his job and the challenges which came with it … It was his kind of life – being a firefighter-paramedic was in his blood.”

Lt Col Siri Skare, Norwegian Female Pilot, Killed in UN Attack in Afghanistan

The Norwegian Defence Ministry named one of the victims as Lt. Col Siri Skare, a 53-year-old female pilot.   Skare is Norway’s first female officer to be killed in service in the war-torn nation.

Lt. Col. Siri Skare

Female pilot killed in Afghanistan

Skare, who finished her training as a pilot in 1983, had been working as a military adviser for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) since August of last year, according to the defense ministry. Those assigned to the UN are unarmed and work to provide aid and development assistance to civilians in Afghanistan, reported Aftenposten.no.

“She was a highly respected officer,” Morten Hagalund, second-in-command at the military operative headquarters, told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK). Skare, age 53, was originally from Åndalsnes in the county of Møre og Romsdal, lived in Oslo, was married and had one child.

Siri Skare, 52, was a lieutenant colonel in the Royal Norwegian Air Force. In 1983, she became the first woman in Norway’s history to graduate as a military pilot. She flew Hercules 130’s and Orion aircrafts, supporting land and maritime operations. Besides degrees in political science and strategic studies, Siri was a 2010 graduate of the US Air Force’s War College. In 2008 she served as a staff officer at US Central Command in Florida.
Siri was seconded to UNAMA in August, 2010, as a military advisor. It was her second posting to Afghanistan.
Friends recall a person character who was a role model to other women and girls in Norway. She is the first female Norwegian military officer to be killed in Afghanistan. Friends describe Siri as motivated and positive, the type of person colleagues relished working alongside. Siri is survived by her daughter.

Freelance photographer Sabah al-Bazee is killed in Iraq

 

Sabah al-Bazee / Reuters

Thirty-year-old Sabah al-Bazee “was among more than 50 people killed on Tuesday when gunmen attacked a local government building in Tikrit, the hometown of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein,” Reuters reports.

British Journal of Photography

Al-Bazee has been a contributor for Reuters for the past seven years. He was also working as a cameraman. He “suffered shrapnel wounds in an explosion,” according to Reuters.

For more on Sabah al-Bazee, read tributes from friends and co-workers at Reuters.

 

KBR Truck Driver Johnny Smith dies from IED blast in Iraq

Contractor Killed in Iraq from MsSparky

Sadly, another KBR truck driver has lost his life while supporting our troops. I don’t have a lot of information on this yet but was told KBR truck driver Johnny “High Stepper” Smith died in Germany from injuries he received when the truck he was driving hit an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in Iraq.

I was told Johnny worked out of Q-West and Mosul.

My heartfelt condolences go out to his family, friends and co-workers.

I will update this post with more information as I receive it.

Please see the original here

Army dog dies after handler killed

See  also Bomb Sniffing Army Dog and his Master to be Repatriated Together March 4, 2011

Press Association March 2, 2011

L/Cpl Liam Tasker and his dog Theo were killed while on patrol in Helmand province

A British army sniffer dog which holds the record for finding the most weapons and homemade bombs in Afghanistan has died shortly after his handler was shot dead.

Theo, a springer spaniel, suffered a seizure after Lance Corporal Liam Tasker was killed by small arms fire while the pair were on patrol in Helmand province on Tuesday.

Three weeks ago the Ministry of Defence heralded the success of Theo who had made 14 finds of IEDS (improvised explosive devices) and weapons caches in just five months in Afghanistan.

L/Cpl Tasker of The Royal Army Veterinary Corps, 1st Military Working Dog Regiment, had praised the dog for his dedication. “I love my job and working with Theo. He has a great character and never tires. He can’t wait to get out and do his job and will stop at nothing,” he said last month.

L/Cpl Tasker died from the injuries sustained in the attack, while Theo died after returning to Camp Bastion.

Please read more about L/Cpl Tasker and Theo here