Army Maj. David S. Connolly

Died April 6, 2005 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom

37, of Boston; assigned to the 1173rd Transportation Terminal Battalion, Army Reserve, Brockton, Mass.; killed April 6 when the CH-47 helicopter in which he was riding crashed in Ghazni, Afghanistan. Fifteen service members were killed or are unaccounted for in the crash. (Connolly, a captain at the time of the crash, was posthumously promoted to major and received the Bronze Star.)

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Boston prosecutor killed in Afghanistan chopper crash

By Ken Maguire

Associated Press

BOSTON — A Suffolk County prosecutor and Army reservist whose death in Afghanistan was confirmed Tuesday was recalled as a leader who was committed to public service.

Capt. David S. Connolly, 37, was on a CH-47 Chinook helicopter that crashed in bad weather last Wednesday about 80 miles south of Kabul with 15 military personnel and three civilians aboard, the district attorney’s office said Tuesday.

“You only needed to spend a few minutes with David to realize that this soft-spoken, serious-minded young man is a leader,” District Attorney Daniel Conley said. “He inspired confidence in others.”

There were no survivors, but Connolly’s friends and colleagues had held out hope that he wasn’t on the helicopter.

The helicopter’s crew had been delivering mail, supplies and personnel and was returning to a U.S. base in Bagram. Officials said there were no reports of enemy fire. Bad visibility and strong winds may have caused pilot error or a technical problem.

Connolly, a resident of Boston’s North End, served in the Army Reserve’s 1173rd Transportation Battalion, based in Brockton.

The Boston College graduate served a tour of duty in Iraq before joining the district attorney’s office last year. He was one of about 10 prosecutors assigned to the Boston Municipal Court.

“David prosecuted a wide range of street crimes and helped many victims seek justice for the wrongs that had been done to them,” Conley said. “In those few months that he was with us, he impressed many with his work ethic and compassion for victims.”

Connolly was a prosecutor for less than a year when his unit was reactivated and sent to Afghanistan. His wife, Debra Connolly, is a nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital. They were married in 2003 and had no children.

Connolly’s mother and three of his six siblings also graduated from Boston College, Oslin said.

“Before he went to Afghanistan, they had a big tailgate party at BC football game,” he said.

Connolly, following in his brother Joseph’s footsteps, entered the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps at the college, Oslin said. He graduated in 1994. Joseph Connolly graduated in 1985. Joseph administered his brother’s commissioning oath in 1994.

David Connolly served on active duty as an Army Ranger and graduated from Suffolk Law School in 2003.

Connolly is the first Boston College ROTC graduate to die in military action since 1970, when 1st Lt. Louis Favuzza died in Vietnam, Oslin said.

Connolly is at least the fourth Massachusetts resident killed in military action in Afghanistan.