Gloyer

AFGHANISTAN — A Green Beret, who was a 2000 Seneca Valley High School graduate, was killed Thursday while fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, the U.S. Department of Defense said.

Sgt. 1st Class Ryan A. Gloyer, 34, of Greenville in Mercer County, died Thursday in Kunduz, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained while engaging enemy forces, according to the defense department.

The Associated Press reported that more than 30 people, including 26 civilians, were killed in the battle, a joint U.S.-Afghan raid against the Taliban involving NATO airstrikes.

Afghan officials were investigating the attack, according to the AP, which may have been caused by the airstrikes called to support Afghan and U.S. troops under fire.

Another Green Beret, Capt. Andrew D. Byers, 30, of Rolesville, N.C., also died in the fighting, the defense department said. U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said four Americans were wounded.

“Today’s loss is heartbreaking and we offer our deepest condolences to the families and friends of our service members who lost their lives today,” Gen. John Nicholson said in a U.S. Central Command news release.

The raid targeted two senior Taliban commanders, who were killed in the fighting along with 63 other insurgents, the AP reported. The U.S. troops were part of a “train, advise and assist mission,” according to the AP.

Gloyer and Byers were assigned to Company B, 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Carson, Colo., according to the defense department.

Gloyer was a 2004 graduate of Thiel College, located in Greenville, Mercer County.

He enlisted in the Army in December 2004 and had been deployed three times to Afghanistan and once to the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the Army Times.

The Army Times reported that Gloyer’s awards and decorations include the Bronze Star with V device, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, two Meritorious Service Medals, two Army Commendation Medals, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with Campaign Star, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Expert Infantryman Badge, the Parachutist Badge, the Ranger tab and the Special Forces tab.