RESCUERS RETRIEVED THE BODIES OF TEN SOLDIERS WHO PERISHED IN A HELICOPTER CRASH WHILE SCOURING REMOTE AFGHAN MOUNTAINS ALONG THE PAKISTAN BORDER FOR AL-QAIDA AND TALIBAN MILITANTS, THE U.S. MILITARY SAID SUNDAY, ACCORDING TO AP. FRIDAY'S CRASH INTO AN INACCESSIBLE RAVINE WAS NOT CAUSED BY HOSTILE FIRE, THE MILITARY SAID. THE SOLDIERS WERE BASED AT FORT DRUM, NEW YORK, BUT THEIR UNITS AND IDENTITIES WOULD NOT BE RELEASED UNTIL ALL RELATIVES HAD BEEN NOTIFIED, SAID LT. COL. PAUL M. FITZPATRICK, CHIEF PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER OF THE 10TH MOUNTAIN DIVISION. OF THE ROUGHLY 18,000 AMERICANS SERVING IN AFGHANISTAN, ABOUT HALF ARE FROM THAT DIVISION. AN INVESTIGATION TEAM WAS AT THE SCENE OF THE CRASH, SAID LT. TAMARA D. LAWRENCE, A SPOKESWOMAN FOR THE U.S.-LED COALITION IN AFGHANISTAN.
