. >> friday afternoon, kimberly vaughn was at her parent's home in northern virginia carinin for herighlight of her day, a phone call from her husband, aaron, a member of navy s.e.a.l. team 6 serving in afghanistan. >> his last words were "i love you. i'll talk to you later." >> it was late friday in afghanistan. some 7,000 miles away a team of army rangers in the tangi valley moving in on their target a taliban commander. a firefight erupts. the rangers call for reinforcement. and within minutes aaron vaughn was heading into the fight, on board a chinook helicopter. with him 21 other s.e.a.l.s, including texan stephen mill commissioned a s.e.a.l. on 9/11. high school buddies robert reeves and jonas kelsa from louisiana. around 1:00 a.m., now saturday as the helicopter descends in darkness, the taliban take aim with an rpg. normally easy for a helicopter to evade. >> it is an inaccurate weapon. it's not able to hone in. it's like shooting a bullet. >> but this night was different. the taliban were able to set up an ambush and fire on the helicopter as it came into the landing zone. a

kimberly vaughn will be there. her husband aaron was among those killed. in the greatest single loss of american life in afghanistan since the war there began. >> i am afraid i'll forget what he smells like, what he feels like. i miss him. no other way to put it. >> 30 americans died saturday when taliban insurgent fired rocket-propelled grenade at the chinook helicopters. top military commanderers say it's not a sign of taliban gaining strength, just unfortunate lucky shot. >> the taliban were able to set up an ambush and fire on the helicopter as it came in the landing zone. in a time when the helicopter is most vulnerable, slow, predictable. and greatly increases the chances of taliban knocking the helicopter down. >> most of those who died were member of the seal team six, the unit that conducted the raid that killed osama bin laden at the hide-out in pakistan. none of the seals killed in the crash took part in that mission. >> tea were far from -- they were far from home, doing what they wanted to do. >> arrivals at dover are open to media coverage wh

kimberly vaughn will be there. her husband aaron was among those killed. in the greatest single loss of american life in afghanistan since the war there began. >> i am afraid i'll forget what he smells like, what he feels like. i miss him. no other way to put it. >> 30 americans died saturday when taliban insurgent fired rocket-propelled grenade at the chinook helicopters. top military commanderers say it's not a sign of taliban gaining strength, just unfortunate lucky shot. >> the taliban were able to set up an ambush and fire on the helicopter as it came in the landing zone. in a time when the helicopter is most vulnerable, slow, predictable. and greatly increases the chances of taliban knocking the helicopter down. >> most of those who died were member of the seal team six, the unit that conducted the raid that killed osama bin laden at the hide-out in pakistan. none of the seals killed in the crash took part in that mission. >> tea were far from -- they were far from home, doing what they wanted to do. >> arrivals at dover are open to media coverage wh

kimberly vaughn describes the horrible moment when uniformed officers came to her door and told her about her husband. >> i just fell to my knees. >> aaron vaughn was one of 22 navy seals killed in the helicopter crash in afghanistan. kimberly is left to care for 2-month-old chamber lynn and 2-year-old reagan. >> i want to tell the world he was a wonderful husband, a fabulous father to two wonderful children. he was a warrior for our country. he wouldn't want to leave this earth any other way than how he did. >> reporter: on the boardwalk in the diners of virginia beach a community grieves for nearly two dozen young men who were in their midst but they never really got to know. mary's restaurant is a hangout for some of the seals based near virginia beach. >> you feel like you're at rock bottom again. you feel you are not succeeding at what needs to be done and you have to ask, is it worth it? is another life worth it? >> it's a great loss. very sad day. very sad day. >> reporter: these were elite commandos who could never reveal what they did to these neighbors. still, people feel a clos

a while ago, we spoke to kimberly vaughn. she learned that her husband, aaron vaughn was among the s.e.a.l.s killed. >> i woke up, i saw the reports on the tv. i thought i was okay. nobody had come. as i come up the stairs, i heard the door bell ring. i said hopefully it's just a neighbor. as i rounded the stairs, i saw the men in uniform. i just fell to my knees. there's no preparing for it. you know, it's something you see in the movies. it's not something you're supposed to live through. but it -- it was men from the command. and, you know, it was as nice as it could be, i guess. >> she is now left to care for a 2-month-old daughter and a son who will turn two years old just next month. the focus now turns to helping the families like kimberly, current and former navy s.e.a.l.s and their commanders are trying to raise money for the navy s.e.a.l. foundation, a group dedicated to giving financial support to the families left behind. >> brian todd, thank you very much. in a moment we will speak with other people who knew those

was men from the command and, you know, it was as nice as it could be, i guess. >> reporter: kimberly vaughn is now left to care for a 2-month-old daughter and a little boy who will be about 2 years old next month. she says -- the family says that aaron vaughn left for his latest deployment in afghanistan only two weeks after the little girl was born. kyra? >> brian todd, definitely and continues to be a tough story for all of us to hear. >>> if you want to hear more on the helicopter crash, check out our new national security blogs, security clearance at cnn.com/security. reports, analysis, opinion pieces. we're also on twitter @nationalsecurity cnn. >>> can you pray away a bad economy? texas governor rick perry raidsraids raised some eyebrows when he did just that. does this blur the line between politics and religion? every day, all around the world, energy is being produced to power our lives. while energy developement comes with some risk, north america's natural gas producers are committed to safely and responsibly providing decades of cleaner burning energy for our country, drilling t

this was exactly the situation kimberly vaughn found herself in and later on had a knock at the door,t opened the door and two uniformed men there who delivered the awful, awful news that her husband aaron was involved in that helicopter crash and we've been hearing from her, actually, on cnn over the weekend. >> i want to tell the world that he was an amazing man, that he was a wonderful husband and a fabulous father to two wonderful children and a warrior for our country, and he wouldn't want to leave this earth any other way than how he did. >> unbelievable, isn't it, that somehow she manages to find hope in this shortly after it happened. >> yeah. these guys, these were the most elite of the elite, that is navy s.e.a.l.s. who went down. another story we're following over the weekend, and it did get blurred by all of the debt ceiling, the debt downgrade talk, these riots in london, dozens hurt, dozens more arrested. what prompted it and what happened? >> all came out of the blue. scenes you don't expect to see in london these days. what happened was a young man was shot by police l

kimberly vaughn, aaron's wife, spoke on the "today" show this morning about their 2-year-old son and newborn daughter. >> i'm proud that i will get to carry on his legacy through our children, who will take away his strength and his love for this country. and they will know what an amazing man he is. was. >> nbc's atia is live in kabul for us. do we know more about the mission that these troops were on? >> reporter: hello, thomas. we are hearing from nature foe officials who are confirming what exactly happened saturday during the overnight raid. they're saying this helicopter carrying the men were actually a part of a reinforcement team going in to help u.s. army rangers who were pinned down in a fire fight in the tanji valley in wardak province. when their chinook helicopter was coming down, that's when the tal boone decided to fire a rocket-propelled grenade, bringing the helicopter down and killing everyone on board. 30 americans and 8 afghans were aboard that chinook helicopter. what's interesting is the fact that we've actually heard this story before, from the taliban. they're

kimberly vaughn describes that horrible moment when uniformed officers came to her door and told her ll to my knees. >> reporter: aaron carson vaughn was one of 22 s.e.a.l.s killed in the attack. she is now left to care for her daughter and son. >> i want to tell the world that he was an amazing man, that he was a wonderful husband and a fabulous father to two wonderful children. and he was a warrior for our country. and he wouldn't want to leave this earth any other way than how he did. >> reporter: on the boardwalk, in the diners of the vaughn's newly adopted home of virginia beach, a community grieves for 22 young men who were in their midst but never really got to know. mary's is a hangout for some of the s.e.a.l.s stationed at virginia beach. >> you feel like you're at rock bottom again, that you're not succeeding at what needs to be done. and you have to ask, is it worth it? is another life worth it? >> it's a loss and very sad day. very sad day. >> reporter: secretive, elite commandos, who could never reveal what they did to these neighbors. still, people feel very close. and t

. >> reporter: kimberly vaughn describes that horrible moment when they came to the door and told heri fell to my knees. >> reporter: kimberly is now left to care for 2-month-old daughter chamberlin and reagan. >> i want to tell the world that he was an amazing sxhan a wonderful husband and a fabulous father to two wonderful children, and he was away for our country and he would not want to leave this earth any other way than how he did. >> reporter: in the hometown, a community grieves for nearly two dozen young men who they never really got to know. mary's restaurant is a hangout for some of the s.e.a.l.'s base at virginia beach. >> you feel like you are at rock bottom again, and you feel like you are not succeeding at what needs to be done, and you have to ask, is it worth it? is another life worth it? >> it's very sad, a very sad day. >> reporter: these were secretive elite commandos that could never reveal what they did to these people. we're told none of the s.e.a.l. killed in this operation were on the bin laden raid. they wanted to throw a parade for the s.e.a.l. after the ope

and kimberly vaughn is giving us even more. glimpse into her last conversation with her husband aaron just hours before he and 21 other navy s.e.a.l.s were killed in a helicopter crash in afghanistan. she says aaron reached her and their young children on the phone as they were driving. >> so he got to talk to me and talk to my son in the back seat. it was actually a great conversation. probably just about time before he went out to work that night. but we got to tell each other we loved each other. so it was a great conversation to have. >> reporter: kimberly says aaron was eager to get back into combat and return to afghanistan just three weeks after their daughter, chamberlin, was born. over the past year and a half, three navy s.e.a.l.s who worshipped at this church were killed in action, including two in the latest incident. here and elsewhere in the community, the picture that we're getting of these men is that on the one hand, they possessed have extraordinary va. on the other hand, they just like us. >> the commitment t

kimberly vaughn lost her husband aaron in the chinook shoot-down. >> these navy s.e.a.l.s, they don'ter family items which could be tested. fascinating case. >> seemed like such a big lead there too, we'll see. >>> here is your tuesday forecast. stormy from chicago down to birmingham. drenching downpours around atlanta, tallahassee, and mobile. showers from flagstaff to albuquerque and from montana to the dakotas. a big cool-down in minnesota. >> 70 in the twin cities. omaha 8181 chicago 82. a mild 75 in boston. 90s from new orleans to baltimore. triple digits again in dallas and phoenix. upper 80s in sacramento and salt lake city. >>> the competition was intense in northern wisconsin over the weekend but it sure was worth it. >> the competition, of course, was the fourth annual wife-carrying and ferrying contest. >> there's something primal about that. >> very. where's fred flintstone? the teams were made up of one man and one woman. we should say though that most were husband and wife, or boyfriend and girlfriend. where there was at least one brother/sister team too. >> that's a lit

we talk to one of the widows yesterday, kimberly vaughn, very composed over the phone and talked about her husband and when we got into the interview, she got emotional and started to cry and talk about her children. and the families are strong, but it's so so difficult. a couple hours ago we went to two of the navy s.e.a.l.s' houses, and the responses are interesting. i knocked on one more and a young man came to the door clearly a friend of one of the s.e.a.l.s, and he was very stowic and courteous but said the family did not want to talk right now. and then another family's home, the sister-in-law of one of the navy s.e.a.l.s that died, said the family did not want to talk and then broke down and started crying. you feel guilty forei even knocking on the door. you walk away feeling so badly for these people. the sacrifices they are making, and it's a community wide thing. a real kinship with the s.e.a.l.s here. >> yeah, my experience over the years, so many of the surviving family members, they want to speak about their dead son or their father or their brother or sister, because th

. >>> kimberly vaughn's husband, aaron, was one of the navy s.e.a.l.s who died in that attack. she's here with us along with his parents. please accept my condolences. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> kimberly, even as i express my condolences to you, and mr. and mrs. vaughn, i was reading last night that you think we should start by making sure that our condolences are expressed to all the families who are grieving this morning because aaron truly felt he was a member of the team. >> exactly. although i'm able to be here this morning and i'm thankful to share aaron's story, the other people have also lost their loved ones and they're feeling no less grief than i am. >> mr. vaughn, i was reading about your son. and, boy, he was an impressive young man as a child, as a young adult, as a son, as a father, as a husband. he was a young man who stood out. why did he want to be a s.e.a.l.? >> matt, i can just tell you that after 9/11 aaron told me and his mother that he wanted to be a s.e.a.l. and he said that he had wanted to ever since he was a little boy. and aaron, if i can just sa

vaughn. his widow kimberly told abc news she was going to dover. >> it's a way of healing for me.t to miss anything. no matter how hard it is. >> reporter: kraig vicars and jason workman. three were from the air force. among them, john brown and daniel zerbe. and five were army. alexander bennett. spencer duncan. dave carter. patrick hamburger. and bryan nicholol 30 american troops were killed in this incident. they leave behind at least 13 widows and 21 children who lost their fathers on the deadliest day for the u.s. in this, the tenth year of the war in afghanistan. jake tapper, abc news, the white house. >>>>nd we are thinking of them and praying for their families tonight. >>> thanks for watching. diane will be back tomorrow. don't forget to check out "nightline" later and i'll see you in the morning on "gma." have a good night. >>> breaking news from oakland on the murder of a 3-year-old boy. police deliver on a promise to solve the crime quickly. >> tonight how a down turn in the stock market could be a homeowner wind fall if you qualify. >>> a local man crashes in on the p

tommyraflull, robert james reeves, nicholas spehar, michael strange, john tumleson, aaron carson vaughn, his widow kimberlyold abc news, she was going to dover. >> it's... it's a way of healing for me. so i don't want to miss anything, no matter how hard it is. >> craig vickers and jason workman. three were from the air force, among them john brown and daniel swrishy. and five were army. alexander bennett, penser duncan, dave carter, patrick hamburger and brian nichols. 30 american troops were killed in this insz dent. they leave behind at least 13 widows and 21 children who lost their fathers on the deadliest day for the u.s. in this, the 10th year of the war in afghanistan. jake tapper, abcninetynews, thee house. house. >> we'll be right back in just a [ man ] i got this new citi thankyou card and started earning loads of points. you got a weather balloon with points? yes i did. [ man ] points i could use for just about anything. ♪ ♪ there it is. [ man ] so i used mine to get a whole new perspective. ♪ [ male announcer ] the new citi thankyou premier card gives you more ways to earn points. what's your s

aaron vaughn leaves his wife kimberly, his 2-year-old son reagan and his 2-month-old daughter chamberlain-old chief petty officer robert james reeves, served on s.e.a.l. team 6 and had earned four bronze stars. robert grew up in shreveport, louisiana with jonas kelsall, lieutenant commander kelsall was a member of s.e.a.l. team 7. craig vickers was on the maui high school football team in hawaii and was a member of the navy bomb disposal team. kraig lived in virginia beach with his wife who is pregnant and their three children. he would have turned 37 later this week. 35-year-old john tumilson always wanted to be a navy s.e.a.l. he was a wrestler in high school and a neighbor told the associated press, he was going to be a navy s.e.a.l. since i can't remember when. brian bill graduated from vermont's norwitch university in 2001 and then joined the s.e.a.l.s. a high school teacher of brian bills at trinity catholic high school in connecticut said brian just wanted to do his best to protect other people. challenge did not deter him, ever. most of the names of the people lost in the helicopt

among the dead, 22 navy s.e.a.l.s including aaron vaughn whose wife kimberly spoke with cnn. >> i wanthe was an amazing man, that he was a wonderful husband and fabulous father to two wonderful children. he was a warrior for christ. and he was a warrior for our country. and he wouldn't want to leave this earth any other way than how he did. >> with us now, fran townsend who advised president bush. also brad thorr, went on several research missions in afghanistan and pakistan with navy s.e.a.l.s. fran, the large -- most deadly at being a in the history of this ten year war. i want to show our viewer where is it took place. this is in some of the most treachero treacherous. what does it say as we pay tribute to these heros that this is still where a lot of the hardest parts of this war are being fought? >> well, it tells and you number of things. first of all, this is right on the outskirts, pot venot very fm kabul. it was the sacred ground that our troops protected. mostly to give the karzai government the opportunity to extend their reign, their government. this is very close to the ca

. >> reporter: eric carson vaughn was one of eight seals killed. kimberly is now left to care for kimberlan and reagan. >> i want to tell the world that he was an amazing man and wonderful husband and a fabulous four to two fabulous children and he was a warrior for our count industry. and he would not want to leave this earth in no other way that he did. >> reporter: at the diner of of the their new home, mary's diner is in virginia beach. >> you have to ask, is it worth it? >> very sad, very sad. >> reporter: these are secretive commandos that could never reveal what they did to their neighbors. this community has gone from the triuph of the killing of osama bin laden to what seems to be the single largest loss of life for the seals. virginia beach mayor wanted to throw a parade but knew he couldn't. now he has to help an entire city grieve for men who's name many people are hearing for the first time. >> it hurts. but everybody thinks so highly upon them. >> reporter: mcguire knows about that pain. he was a former seal who was stationed in virginia beach

vaughn. his widow kimberly told abc news she was going to dover. >> it's a way of healing for me.iss anything. no matter how hard it is. >> reporter: kraig vickers. jason workman. three were from the air force. among them, john brown. and daniel zerbe. and five were army. alexander bennett. spencer duncan. dave carter. patrick hamburger. and bryan nichols. 30 american troops were killed in this incident. they leave behind at least 13 widows and 21 children who lost their fathers on the deadliest day for the u.s. in this the tenth year of the war in afghanistan. jake tapper, abc news, the white house. not only for the country but for the families. it's just heartbreaking. >> your heart goes out. especially you see those pictures and they're all young guys, young folks just starting out in their life. 30 killed, 22 were navy s.e.a.l.s who were part of the same special forces team that killed bin laden. none of the folks who were part of the bin laden raid were killed in that incident but folks who came from that elite group. it's devastating. the country needs those reminders. >> an

aaron vaughn of virginia beach, a bear of a man, with a father's gentle touch. wife kimberly on "today" said his legacy would live through their two children. >> he'll take away his strength, his love for this country, and they will know what an amazing man he is -- was. >> reporter: so many were born to be s.e.a.l.s. kraig vickers of maui, a big man with a big heart. childhood friend moses goods said combat service was in his blood. >> he did the rambo thing. he covered himself in mud, so he was completely camouflaged. that was his thing. and when someone would come by, he would jump up covered in mud. >> reporter: kevin houston wanted to be a s.e.a.l. since the fifth grade. in afghanistan, he always carried this american flag under his body armor next to his heart, except on this final mission. he had sent the flag to his mentor, vietnam veteran christopher kelly. >> when you realize that he wore it on his chest between his body armor on all these missions he was on, it sure was an honor. >> reporter: today, at the special operations command in tampa, defense secretary leon

vaughn. first, i want to express our condolences to all of you and thanks for talking to us at this difficult time. good morning. >> good morning. >> kimberly, you have an amazing story with aaron that you met. you were on a uso tour as a washington redskins cheerleader. he was stationed in guam. tell us a little about the man you fell in love with. >> well, when i met him, 6'4", he's hard to miss. i mean, i won't get into all how we met, but the man i fell in love with is gentle and kind and a wonderful father and wonderful son. but he was strong and courageous and a warrior for christ and for his country. >> you said he was a wonderful father. in fact, he was home just eight week ago for the birth of your second child, chamberlain. tell us about that visit. >> yes. as much as they're gone, i was very blessed to have him home for the birth of our daughter. she's 8 weeks old. i was a little curious as to how aaron would be raising a daughter as opposed to our son. but he just took her in his arms and he was ecstatic to have a little baby girl. to carry on his legacy and our son, reagan, is 23 months old. and i can already see aaron's qualit

vaughn, the father of a boy not yet 2. a daughter, whose birth he witnessed just eight weeks ago. and the husband of kimberly, a former nfl cheerleader, who aaron met when she was performing with the uso. >> his last words to me were, i love you. i'll talk to you later. and one day in heaven, we will. >> reporter: kimberly got the terrible news on saturday. >> i heard the doorbell ring. and i remember thinking, oh, it's just a neighbor. and i came upstairs. and i saw my father opening the door and then, coming inside, in uniform. and i just fell to my knees. there's just -- the energy -- everything just drops out of you. and i remember saying no, no. >> reporter: kimberly's pain is so raw, but it is pride in her husband that she says will get her through. that and the remarkable support from family, friends and the s.e.a.l. community that is smothering her with love. >> these navy s.e.a.l.s, they don't do it for the medals or for tv interviews or anything. they do it because it's the right thing to do. >> reporter: and kimberly told me that aaron truly loved his family. but he also loved his job so much, tha