HUDSON, N.H. (WHDH) - A New Hampshire community is mourning the loss of Air Force Capt. Ryan Phaneuf who died Monday while serving overseas.
Phaneuf, 30, of Hudson, New Hampshire, and Lt. Col. Paul K. Voss, 46, of Yigo, Guam, were killed when their military plane went down Monday in a Taliban-controlled area of Afghanistan, the Pentagon announced.
American forces recovered their bodies Tuesday.
Phaneuf graduated from Alvirne High School in 2007, where he was the Air Force Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps commander.
This is the second alum from the school to die in less than one week.
Officer Katie Thyne was killed in the line of duty during a traffic stop in Newport News, Virginia on Jan. 23.
Hudson Police Chief William Avery says it has been a tough time for the town.
“It is not an easy thing to lose a person anytime but when somebody is protecting our country and protecting the streets of this great country we take it hard,” he said. “The Hudson Police Department and the entire town of Hudson will support them. We will do whatever it takes to help them, assist them, and stand by them throughout this process and this ordeal.”
The cause of the plane crash in Afghanistan remains under investigation but Gen. Frank McKenzie, commander of U.S. Central Command, said there is no indication the plane was downed by hostile action.
“I’m pretty confident there was no enemy action involved,” he told reporters. “Aircraft mishaps happen.”
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