United States Army has bequeathed a special honour to a soldier who died during a terror attack in Kenya.
According to a report by al.com, a leading news outlet in Alabama, the US Army Aviation Center of Excellence and Fort Rucker renamed a road in the state in honour of the fallen Specialist Henry Mayfield.
Mayfield was among three US citizens who were killed when al Shabaab militia attacked Manda Bay Airfield in Lamu, a base shared by U.S. and Kenyan forces.
In a dedication ceremony that was scheduled to take place on Wednesday, May 26, the US Army decided to rename Fort Rucker’s 3rd Avenue to Mayfield Avenue.
The soldier died alongside two other staffers of the Department of Defence (DoD) in the United States.
The renaming comes after the soldier got honoured in Somalia where Baledogle Military Airfield renamed one of their dining facilities into his name.
The Morale Welfare and Recreation facility, which is located at Manda Bay, was also renamed to Henry J. Mayfield Jr. Recreation Center.
Mayfield was assigned to 1st Battalion, 58th Aviation Regiment, 164th Theater Airfield Operations Group, out of Fort Rucker, Alabama. His battalion provides expeditionary air traffic control and airfield management.
Mayfield is a native of Hazel Crest - a suburb in Chicago, Illinois. He enlisted into the Army in August 2017.
During the attack, the terrorist stormed the airstrip at Manda Bay, targeting US aircrafts destroying six in the process. The attack began at 4 a.m. on Sunday, Jan 5, 2020, and lasted for around 4 hours.
A statement that was later released by Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) confirmed that the terrorists who participated in the attack were killed.
A conflicting statement was released by locals who claimed that a Kenyan civilian, Mwalimu Chengo Ponda, was killed in the attack even as KDF refuted the claims.
