Navy Boatswain’s Mate 1st Class (SEAL) Brian J. Ouellette

Died May 29, 2004 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom

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37, of Needham, Mass.; assigned to Navy Special Warfare Group Two, Little Creek, Va.; killed May 29 while on mounted patrol near Jahak and Seleh, Afghanistan.

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SEAL among those killed in explosion

Associated Press

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — A Navy SEAL based in Virginia Beach was one of four U.S. special forces members killed in an explosion in Afghanistan, Navy officials said.

Petty Officer 1st Class Brian Ouellette and three other service members traveling in a Humvee were killed in Zabul province, about 240 miles southwest of Kabul, the nation’s capital. The four were members of the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force Afghanistan.

Ouellette, 37, was a member of Navy Special Warfare Group Two at Little Creek Amphibious Base and is the fifth SEAL from Virginia Beach to die in Afghanistan.

Naval Special Warfare spokesman Chief Petty Officer Tom Jones said that Ouelette was on a mounted patrol near the cities of Jahak and Seleh.

A native of Needham, Mass., Ouellette enlisted in the Navy in 1990 and became a SEAL in 1991, the Navy said.

Ouellette grew up in Waltham, Mass., and graduated from Waltham High School, but his mother now lives in Maynard, Mass..

He was remembered at Memorial Day ceremonies in both communities.

“It’s devastating,” the Rev. Kenneth Quinn said at a small ceremony at St. Bridget’s cemetery in Maynard. “This brings home what’s going on.”

In Waltham, Ouellette was remembered as a dedicated member of the SEALs, an elite fighting force that undergoes some of the toughest military training in the world.

“Once he got in there and got a taste of it, he wouldn’t be denied,” Jim Stanley, a friend and former roommate told WBZ-TV. “That’s really what he wanted to do.”

Ouellette was one of eight children and the family remained in seclusion over the weekend. His mother, Peg, said she was too distraught to talk when contacted by The Associated Press on Sunday and would only say “I loved him dearly.”

The other Special Forces soldiers who died in the incident, according to the Pentagon, were Army Capt. Daniel W. Eggers, 28, of Cape Coral, Fla.; Staff Sgt. Robert J. Mogensen, 26, of Leesville, La.; and Pfc. Joseph A. Jeffries, 21, of Beaverton, Ore.

At least 89 American service personnel have died in and around Afghanistan since the start of the U.S. war on terrorism following the Sept. 11 attacks, including 55 killed in action.

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Navy SEAL from Massachusetts killed in Afghanistan

WALTHAM, Mass. — Memorial Day services in two Massachusetts communities were made even more somber on Monday with news that a Navy SEAL with ties to those towns had died fighting the war of terror in Afghanistan.

Petty Officer 1st Class Brian J. Ouellette, 37, a 15-year Navy veteran, was one of four servicemen who died when the Humvee he was in ran over a mine.

Ouellette grew up in Waltham and graduated from Waltham High School, but his mother now lives in Maynard.

He was remembered at ceremonies in both communities.

“It’s devastating,” the Rev. Kenneth Quinn said at a small ceremony at St. Bridget’s cemetery in Maynard. “This brings home what’s going on.”

In Waltham, Ouellette was remembered as a dedicated member of the SEALs, an elite fighting force that undergoes some of the toughest military training in the world.

“Once he got in there and got a taste of it, he wouldn’t be denied,” Jim Stanley, a friend and former roommate told WBZ-TV. “That’s really what he wanted to do.”

Ouellette was one of eight children and the family remained in seclusion over the weekend. His mother, Peg, said she was too distraught to talk when contacted by The Associated Press on Sunday and would only say “I loved him dearly.”

Steve Duffy, head lacrosse coach and assistant football coach at Waltham High, played football with Ouellette in the mid-1980s.

“He was a great teammate, a year older, and always good to the younger guys,” Duffy told The MetroWest Daily News of Framingham. “He was just a tough, no-nonsense type of guy who would smack you in the mouth between the whistles. A tough guy.”

Ouellette was assigned to the Naval Special Warfare Group Two based in Little Creek, Va., according to the Navy, which announced the death on Monday.

The Special Forces soldiers who died in the incident, according to the Pentagon, were Army Capt. Daniel W. Eggers, 28, whose home town was listed as Cape Coral, Fla., but who was originally from New Hampshire; Staff Sgt. Robert J. Mogensen, 26, of Leesville, La.; and Pfc. Joseph A. Jeffries, 21, of Beaverton, Ore.

At least 89 American service personnel have died in and around Afghanistan since the start of the U.S. war on terrorism following the Sept. 11 attacks, including 55 killed in action.

Ouellette is the third Massachusetts resident to die in Afghanistan. Army Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Petithory, 32, of Cheshire, was killed on Dec. 5, 2001 along with two other soldiers when a U.S. bomb landed about 100 yards from their position. Pfc. Evan W. O’Neill, 19, of Haverhill died Sept. 29.

Funeral arrangements for Ouellette are still pending.

-- Associated Press