 HISTORICAL ARCHIVES  |
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Historical Profile:
Sgt Kyle Seitsinger
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If you have any information related to the incident in which Sgt Seitsinger lost his life,
his contributions to our MSG and USMC legacy, or any personal recollections,
please send a note so that we can might all be able to share his memory.
MEGA Historical Committee
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MEGA History Page
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From Dave Tedrows MSG Project -
I was just informed of
the loss of a former MSG. Sgt Kyle Seitsinger, who I am told was
serving in the Army reserve, was killed in an explosion while serving
in Afghanistan. Sgt. Seitsinger served honorably as an MSG at MOSCOW,
BRASILIA, and “the best A/ -in all of the battalion” [according to
Delta Co. 1st Sgt.] - of Rio De Janeiro Our prayers go out to the
family and many friends that Kyle had.
Kyle Seitsinger, an Oklahoma Christian University student who was serving overseas as a sergeant in the Army Reserves, was one of eight U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan Thursday when a weapons cache exploded. Seitsinger, who previously had served in the Marine Corps, had been a student at Oklahoma Christian since the fall of 2000 in between calls to military duty. Toward the end of the fall 2003 semester, he left for duty in Afghanistan, where he was stationed at Bagram Air Base, the main camp of the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan. He was assigned to the Army Reserve’s 486th Civil Affairs Battalion in Broken Arrow, Okla. OC’s connection with the Seitsinger family extends to Kyle’s mother, Jo Seitsinger, who used to work in the university’s security office. “We have heavy hearts at Oklahoma Christian as we mourn with Kyle’s family. This is a difficult time for all of us on campus,” said Dr. Mike O’Neal, Oklahoma Christian University president. “We thank God for the way Kyle served his country. This reminds us so poignantly how the price of our liberty is exceedingly precious. Kyle was an extremely talented young man who was dedicated to finishing his degree despite being called away to duty several times while he was here. Through the entire experience, he worked to make himself a better student in the classroom and in life. He was intent on making a difference in the world. We are extremely proud of Kyle. We were blessed to have him at Oklahoma Christian.” Seitsinger also was called to serve in Costa Rica and Brazil during his time as a student at Oklahoma Christian, where he majored in journalism and Spanish. While in school, he served as the opinions editor for the university’s student newspaper, the Talon. Seitsinger also wrote for The Oklahoman and for the Edmond Sun. He aspired to be an international correspondent living and reporting out of South America. Friday’s chapel service at Oklahoma Christian included a time of prayer for Kyle’s family and friends. In addition, the university made available counselors from OC’s Health and Wellness Center to assist students, faculty and staff members with their grief. OC students also were encouraged to talk and pray with a faculty or staff member to help cope with Kyle’s loss. MOS: OCCUPATION: USMC Bio: Additional Information: Posted on 01/31/2004 6:20:32 AM PST by Ragtime
Cowgirl Deadly Afghan Blast Likely an Accident
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- An arms dump blast that killed eight American soldiers was likely an accident, the U.S. military said Saturday, releasing the first results of an investigation into its worst ever loss of life here. The soldiers died Thursday when a cache of mortar rounds and rifle ammunition discovered near Ghazni, about 90 miles southwest of Kabul, exploded. Military spokesman Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty said the soldiers were preparing the weapons for disposal when one or more of them detonated. "There was a single pop and then a much louder, much larger sympathetic detonation," he said. "Initial indications are that it probably was an accident." The status of an eighth soldier listed as missing was changed to "presumed deceased," Hilferty said Saturday, confirming the worse loss of life for U.S. forces since they invaded in late 2001 to oust the Taliban regime for harboring Osama bin Laden. Hilferty gave no further details on the the explosion, saying the investigation was still in its early stages. He had said Friday that the military was still looking into whether the cache was set off by a booby-trap. But in the United States, a sister of one of the dead soldiers said officers informed relatives that the troops were on a training exercise. Penny Cockerell said she was told that her brother, Sgt. Kyle Seitsinger, a 29-year-old Army Reserve sergeant attached to the 10th Mountain Division, died when a mortar round exploded during the exercise. "It makes it even worse that it was a training exercise. It makes it more senseless," Cockerell, a reporter who works in the Dallas bureau of The Associated Press, said in a telephone interview from her family's home in Oklahoma City. Hilferty said several 10th Mountain soldiers were among the dead and that soldiers from other units also were killed. He declined to identify them further. Afghan state TV broadcast a message of condolence from President Hamid Karzai to President Bush on Friday evening, calling it "another sacrifice of your soldiers for peace and stability in Afghanistan." Ghazni provincial Gov. Haji Asadullah Khan had said Friday that a U.S. patrol happened across an arms cache dating from the struggle against Soviet occupation in the 1980s and the ammunition "went off by accident." The deaths came at the end of a month that has underlined the danger and instability still plaguing Afghanistan two years after the Taliban's ouster. In January alone, about 80 people have died in violence in Afghanistan, including civilians, militants, police officers, international peacekeepers and now American soldiers. Seitsinger, a former U.S. Marine, was attending university when called to active duty Dec. 1. "There are so many loose weapons here and the wrong guys maintain control of them in clandestine areas," he wrote in a Jan. 14 e-mail to his sister. "It's our job to find and seize them." Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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