3 Marines Killed In Afghanistan Based Out Of Fort Devens

FORT DEVENS (CBS/AP) – Three U.S. Marines killed in Afghanistan Monday had a connection to Massachusetts.

The Pentagon said they were assigned to the 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division of the Marine Corps Reserve, based in Fort Devens.

Their convoy was hit by a roadside bomb Monday near Bagram Airfield, the main U.S. base in Afghanistan. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Defense Department identified the three as Cpl. Robert A. Hendriks, 25, of Locust Valley, New York; Sgt. Benjamin S. Hines, 31, of York, Pennsylvania; and Staff Sgt. Christopher K.A. Slutman, 43, of Newark, Delaware.

Staff Sgt. Slutman was a 15-year veteran of the New York City Fire Department and a father to three girls.

He was once credited for saving a woman's life in a fire back in 2013 in the Bronx.

"Our focus in the wake of this attack is to support the family, friends and loved ones of our fallen Marines," Marine Forces Reserve Maj. Roger Hollenbeck told WBZ-TV in a statement Wednesday. "These Marines are honored for their extraordinary bravery and for their direct contribution to the defense of this nation."

At Tiny's restaurant, less than three miles from Fort Devens, veterans reacted to the tragic news.

"When they pay that supreme sacrifice, you know, when they don't come back to their family, it's hard," said Norman Albert, a 92-year-old Marine veteran of World War II.

In Pepperell, two towns away, a plan is already in the works to remember the three Marines at a monument dedicated to veterans of the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Jean Connolly said the idea was set into motion after a local Marine posted about them on Facebook.

"One of our committee members, Michael Carr, he is a Marine out of the 25th. And, he just posted, 'so close to home, three brothers gone'," monument co-chair Jean Connolly said. "Every person, we don't want them to be forgotten, their service to this country."

Connolly says a generous person quickly donated the money to lay three bricks with the fallen Marines names on them in the monument. The monument is scheduled to be dedicated on June 8.

(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)