PORT HENRY, NY — Three US Army Reservists from small towns in three different parts of upstate New York were killed in Afghanistan when a roadside bomb struck their vehicle, military officials said yesterday.
The Department of Defense identified the soldiers as Staff Sgt. Dain Venne, 29, of Port Henry; Spc. Ryan Jayne, 22, of Campbell; and Spc. Brett E. Gornewicz, 27, of Alden. They died of wounds suffered Saturday when enemy forces attacked their unit in Paktiya province.
They were members of the Watertown-based 479th Engineering Battalion of the 411th Engineering Brigade in New Windsor and were attached to the 178th Engineer Battalion of the Vicksburg, Miss.-based 412th Theater Engineer Command.
Lt. Col. Doril Sanders of the 412th TEC said the three New Yorkers were combat engineers conducting route-clearing duties when the bomb blasted their vehicle.
Venne was a volunteer firefighter in his hometown on the western shore of Lake Champlain in Essex County, 95 miles north of Albany. Earlier this year, he was hailed by his fire department for his lifesaving actions after rescuing several stranded residents during severe flooding in August 2011.
Jayne was from the Corning area in Steuben County. His father, Paul Jayne, told local media his family is leaving today for Dover, Del., to meet the plane bringing their son’s body back to the US.
Gornewicz graduated last year from Buffalo State College with a bachelor’s degree in industrial technology.