WASHINGTON – The Defense Department is releasing the name of the fifth American soldier who died last Monday in what's been described as a friendly fire airstrike in Afghanistan.
He is 28-year-old Staff Sgt. Jason A. McDonald of Butler, Georgia.
McDonald and another soldier killed in the incident, 24-year-old Staff Sgt. Scott R. Studenmund of Pasadena, California, were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group, at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
The others who died are:
— Twenty-five-year-old Spc. Justin R. Helton of Beaver, Ohio.
— Twenty-two-year-old Cpl. Justin R. Clouse of Sprague, Washington.
— Nineteen-year-old Pvt. 2nd Class Aaron S. Toppen of Mokena, Illinois.
All but McDonald had been identified earlier in news reports about their families receiving word of their deaths.
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