Hamden Solider Killed in Afghanistan Ambush
Sklaver was a hero for more than serving his country
By MIKE SPRINGER
Updated 9:16 AM EDT, Mon, Oct 5, 2009
Flags across the state are flying at half-staff to remember a Connecticut soldier who was killed in Afghanistan.
The body of U.S. Army Capt. Benjamin Sklaver arrived Saturday at Dover Air Force Base, the day after the 32-year-old soldier from Hamden was killed when his unit was ambushed by a suicide attacker while on patrol in Muscheh.
On Sunday, Gov. M. Jodi Rell ordered that all flags be flown at half-staff to honor Sklaver.
"Our state and country have lost a brave soldier and a family has lost a brave son who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedom," Rell said. "As Americans, we must never take the liberty we enjoy for granted."
Along with fighting for his country, Sklaver worked in humanitarian relief since 2003.
In 2007, he founded the ClearWater Initiative, is a non-profit organization that works to bring clean water to people in Ugandan, Africa. He created the organization while he was deployed to secluded villages in the Horn of Africa, according to the ClearWater Initiative Web site.
His goal was to help more than 10,000 by 2012, according to the ClearWater Initiative, and he became known as "Moses Ben," for bringing clean and sustainable drinking water, the Hartford Courant reports.
Flags will remain at half-staff until Capt. Sklaver has been interred, said Rell. His funeral is scheduled for Oct. 6 at the Congregational Mishkan Israel in Hamden.
"It's a sad day for Hamden," Hamden Mayor Craig Henrici, a family friend, told the Courant. "He's kind of like the all-American boy who grew up to be a hero and a humanitarian."
Gary Sklaver told the Courant that his son expected to be home last May, but the "stop-loss" policy of keeping troops past their enlistment dates kept Sklaver in Afghanistan until the end of his tour. Earlier this year, the Courant reports, the Obama administration put an end to the policy.
Sklaver was a graduate of Hamden High School and Tufts University. He has a Master’s degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.
First Published: Oct 4, 2009 3:01 PM EDT
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