ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. --
A New
Mexico native was among the eight service members killed
when a helicopter went down in Afghanistan Sunday. Scott
Duffman was a decorated Special Operations Airman. He had
only been on his tour of duty in Afghanistan for 5 days.
Duffman was a varsity wrestler at La Cueva High School in
Northeast Albuquerque. He graduated from the school in 1992.
"At night we played capture the flag, which was a huge deal
with all of us," said Julieana Reed, an old neighbor of
Duffman's. "At first he came off like he was the tough guy,
but then when we got to know him he was sweet and friendly
and a really nice guy."
Duffman
leaves behind a wife and a 5-month-old baby. "She was the
light of his life," his mother Rose told Action 7 News.
"It's kind of hard because you'd just talked to him the day
before." Scott's mother said she finds comfort in knowing
her son died doing what he loved, but he leaves behind many
people who loved him. She said her son wanted to be buried
at Arlington National Cemetery. The military has told them
it will be several days before Duffman's body is back on
U.S. soil. Military officials are confident the helicopter
was not shot down by militants. Instead, they said the
helicopter pilot radioed in engine problems shortly before
it crashed between Kabul and Kandahar. Investigators said
the helicopter had a sudden, unexplained loss of power. In
addition to the eight service members killed, 14 others
suffered injuries.
