By: Adam Ashton

A veteran Navy explosive ordnance disposal technician from Des Moines was among seven American service members killed Aug. 16 in a helicopter crash last week in Afghanistan’s Kandahar Province.

Petty Officer 1st Class Sean Carson, 32, joined the Navy in 1999. He has been serving with the Navy’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 3 in San Diego since 2009.

Carson died with two Navy SEALs, four Hawaii-based Army aviators and four Afghan service members in a Black Hawk helicopter. They were killed in a battle in a northern district of Kandahar Province, the Taliban’s heartland.

The Taliban has claimed that it shot down the helicopter, but U.S. forces have disputed that assertion.

Carson has received the Navy/Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon (2), Battle Efficiency Ribbon (2), Good Conduct Medal (2), National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.