WADING RIVER, NY - DECEMBER 11: A U.S. Navy honor guard folds an American flag after removing it from the casket of Hurricane Sandy victim David Maxwell, before his burial at the Calverton National Cemetery on December 11, 2012 near the Wading River hamlet of Long Island, New York. Maxwell, 66, was the last of Sandy's victims found on the Staten Island borough of New York City, when his body was discovered in his Midland Beach home 11 days after the storm. A Vietnam veteran, he was buried at the national cemetery, accompanied by honor guards from the Catholic War Veterans and the Patriot Guard Riders. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images) (2012 Getty Images)
A California-based Air Force reservist died overseas while fighting against the Islamic State terrorist group, the Pentagon announced.
Tech. Sgt. Anthony Salazar, 40, of Hermosa Beach, California died on Monday at an airbase in southwest Asia, according to a Defense Department press release on Wednesday.
The circumstances of his death, which military officials described as a non-combat related incident, are currently under investigation.
According to Col. Edward Sholtis, a spokesman for U.S. Air Forces Central Command, Salazar was a mechanical systems repairman at an undisclosed air base in the Gulf region. He told Air Force Times the air base is supporting operations against ISIS militants in the Middle East.
Salazar was assigned to the 577th Expeditionary Prime Base Engineer Emergency Force Squadron, 1st Expeditionary Civil Engineer Group and the U.S. Air Forces Comand – the unit’s headquarters are located at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar – but Salazar was assigned elsewhere in the Gulf region, the Air Force Times reported.
According to Stars and Stripes, Salazar is the second airman to die while supporting military efforts against ISIS. Air Force pilot Capt. William Dubois, 30, was killed in December when the F-15 Fighting Flacon he was flying crashed because of maintenance problems.
Two other U.S. service members, Marine Cpl. Jordan Spears, 21, and Lance Cpl. Sean Neal, 19, died in October 2014.
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