California soldier among convoy victims
State guard loses first to Afghan combat
Soldiers transfer remains of Sgt. Carlo F. Eugenio Oct. 31, 2011 at Dover Air Force Base, Del. Steve Ruark — AP Photo
A California National Guard soldier was among 17 people killed Saturday when a suicide car bomber attacked a convoy in Kabul.
Sgt. Carlo F. Eugenio, 29, of Rancho Cucamonga, was the first California National Guard soldier killed in combat in Afghanistan and the 28th to die in the line of service since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to the state guard.
Eugenio was assigned to the 756th Transportation Company, 746th Combat Sustainment Service Battalion, 224th Sustainment Brigade. The unit based in Lancaster left for a year-long deployment to Afghanistan in August.
“We extend our heartfelt condolences to Sgt. Eugenio’s family and commit to them our unwavering support,” said Maj. Gen. David S. Baldwin, adjutant general for the California National Guard. “Sgt. Eugenio’s death is a painfully wrenching testimony to the bravery, service and sacrifice of our state’s National Guardsmen.”
The brazen midday attack Saturday in the capital on an armored bus claimed the lives of five military service members, eight civilians working for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, and at least four Afghans.
The victims also included a Canadian soldier and two British civilians working for a building contractor.
The Taliban claimed responsibility, but another insurgent group active in Afghanistan, the Haqqani network, is also suspected.
Pentagon officials described the car bombing and a recent series of high-profile assassinations and other attacks as an attempt by the insurgency to make a psychological impact, after losing ground in their former strongholds.
The attacks “reflect, in our view, their concern about pressure that’s being brought to bear on them in other parts of the country,” said Pentagon Press Secretary George Little.
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