Booher, David, SSgt

REMEMBRANCE IN PROGRESS - SUBJECT TO CHANGE
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From Patriot Guard Riders:

06 Nov 2009 8:12 AM Alert

United States Air Force SSgt David Booher was tragically shot and killed in Juarez, Mexico while visiting family. SSgt Booher was stationed at Holloman AFB, NM. A memorial service is tentatively planned for Thursday, November 12th at Holloman AFB, near Alamogordo. More details will be posted as they become available. The family has request an escort from the PGR from El Paso, TX to Holloman and back. The mission will be confirmed when all the details of the memorial service are known. Staging and planning information can be found in the New Mexico forum.


There are 3 Ride Captains for this mission, who will be working together to work out the details of the escort. They are:

Paul ?Chez? Sanchez-SE New Mexico

Ed Kriner-SW New Mexico

Jamie Bailey-Far West Texas

Please watch this thread for updates as they become available.

Michael "Potsie" Postel
SSgt, USAF
New Mexico PGR State Captain
Albuquerque, NM
Cell (575)442-1021
Home (505)877-2417
www.patriotguard.org
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? Holloman Airman killed in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico - 11/5/2009
Holloman community mourns death of Airman

Posted 11/6/2009


11/6/2009 - HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. (AFNS) -- People here are mourning the death of Staff Sgt. David Booher, who was killed during a visit to Cuidad Juarez, Mexico, Nov. 4.

"Members of Team Holloman are saddened by the loss of one our own," said Col. Jeff Harrigian, 49th Fighter Wing commander. "Kathy and I want to extend our thoughts and prayers to his family and friends. They should know we are grateful for his service to the Air Force, his country and Team Holloman. He will be missed."

Sergeant Booher was an aerospace medical services craftsman assigned to the 49th Medical Operation Squadron where he served in the Ambulance Response Element, providing 911 emergency response and in-flight emergency coverage to Holloman Air Force Base.

A memorial service is scheduled for next week at Holloman, however, no further details are available at this time.

The incident remains under investigation by the Mexican state police. The U. S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations is assisting as needed.
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From Digger History:

David Booher USAF Killed In Mexican Bar By Drug Cartel Assault
By Digger
Staff Sgt. David Booher of the US Air Force was gunned down along with 5 other people in the Amadeus bar in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico yesterday. Authorities in the area said the assault looked like that of drug cartels. A seventh victim was injured in the attack.

Booher was assigned to the 49th Fighter Wing's medical unit based out of Holloman Air Force Base, outside Alamogordo, New Mexico. The base is just 90 miles north of Ciudad Juarez. Booher was off duty at the time of the shooting.

I'm sorry to see servicemen like Booher killed and my heart goes out to his family. Being in the medical unit Booher lived his life to help others. Volunteering for the military shows he cared about his country. Now it was all taken away by some violent thugs in a country that's disintegrating.

The US State Department has continued to put out travel advisories for those going to Mexico - and in particular the state of Chihuahua where Ciudad Juarez is located.

There have been 1,900 murders in Ciudad Juarez this year, making it one of the most dangerous cities in the world. In comparison, as of today, just over 900 US service members have been killed in the whole of Afghanistan since 2001 (8 years).
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From El Paso Times:

Airman among 6 slain at club: Medic shot trying to give victim aid

By Daniel Borunda / El Paso Times
Posted: 11/04/2009 11:46:27 PM MST


Airman killed in Juarez
The violence in Juarez continues claiming lives, the latest included an airman from Holloman Air Force Base. Should the U.S. put more pressure on Mexico or help the government control the bloodshed?

A medic from Holloman Air Force Base may have been attempting to treat wounded victims in a shooting when he was targeted and killed by gunmen inside a Juárez strip club, a friend of the airman said.

Staff Sgt. David Booher, 26, was among six men killed just after midnight Wednesday in the Amadeus strip club, Chihuahua state police and Holloman Air Force Base officials said. Booher was with the 49th Fighter Wing.

Booher is the first active member of the U.S. military known to have been to be killed in Juárez since a drug cartel war began in January 2008.

The strip club shooting was part of another violent day in Juárez in which at least six other killings took place including four young men who were lined against a wall and executed outside an elementary school.

Booher, who has family in El Paso and Juárez, was on his day off and had gone with friends to Juárez, said his friend Eric Estrada, who was not part of the group.
Estrada, 28, said his friends told him what happened when gunmen burst into the Amadeus, a neon-lit strip club billed as "El Imperio del Placer" (the Empire of Pleasure) on Avenida Ejercito Nacional.

"They (the shooters) went in there acting as federal agents. They told everyone not to move or they would kill them, Estrada said.

"Nobody saw exactly how they killed him (Booher) because they were all face down. ... My other friends who were with him think that because he is a combat medic, when he moved to try to help someone, they shot him."

Estrada described Booher as a likable guy who because of his military training did not worry about visiting Juárez. Booher's good looks had gotten him a spot as an extra in a "Transformers" movie filmed at Holloman Air Force Base.

Chihuahua state attorney general's spokesman Arturo Sandoval said the hitmen fired 30 rounds. Estrada said Booher was shot six times.

Also killed were club employees, waiter Luis Fabian Carbajal Hernandez, 24, and security guard Omar Osvaldo Garcia Cabrales, 32. Three other men killed had yet to be identified.

Authorities initially said 10 others were wounded, but Sandoval said there was only one other person wounded, who was identified as Jaime Alberto Arguelles.

Due to the violence, the 12th Air Force, which includes the 49th Fighter Wing, earlier this year restricted personnel from traveling to Mexican border cities and the entire state of Chihuahua. Fort Bliss has also banned its soldiers from visiting Juárez.

The Amadeus shooting was part of a plague of violence spurred by a war between drug cartels in Juárez that has included several mass shootings inside bars, restaurants, drug rehab centers and other public sites.

Some of the shootings have been linked to extortion attempts, gang warfare or targeted businesses that were drug-trafficking fronts. The violence continues daily.
Also on Wednesday, four men were lined up against a wall outside an elementary school and shot execution-style around 12:30 p.m. in south Juárez. The men, who appeared to be in their early 20s, were shot in the head, Chihuahua state police said.

There were two more murders as of early Wednesday evening, raising the death toll past 30 for the first four days of November.

There have been more than 2,000 murders in the Juárez area this year, surpassing the 1,600 killed when the cartel war began last year.

Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com; 546-6102.
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