N.C. native dies in Afghanistan

82nd Airborne member was athlete, 'quiet man,' dad says

LAKE TOXAWAY -- A standout high school athlete from Transylvania County was among the five 82nd Airborne Division soldiers killed when a CH-47 Chinook helicopter crashed in Afghanistan last week, his father said.

Staff Sgt. Charlie Bagwell was killed when the helicopter went down Wednesday in southern Afghanistan's Helmand Province, his father, Lane Bagwell, told the Asheville Citizen-Times. The crash killed the five American soldiers and two others on board -- a Briton and a Canadian.

"You know the risks when they go," said Lane Bagwell, who was told of his son's death Thursday by a visiting chaplain and another officer from Fort Bragg, where the 82nd is based. "You just think it isn't going to happen to you or yours. I knew there was always that possibility."

Bagwell, who last talked to his parents the day after Mother's Day, was a quiet man, his father said. "But he said he had some stories to tell us when he got back," Lane Bagwell said.

The military had not released the names of the deceased soldiers as of Saturday, pending notification of family members.

Lane Bagwell said the Fort Bragg officials told him Thursday that the helicopter was shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade. U.S. military officials have also said investigators weren't sure why the helicopter crashed. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

Bagwell served in Iraq in 2005 and had been in Afghanistan since later that year. He was a mechanic and crew chief assigned to Combined Joint Task Force-82, which is built around the 82nd's 4th Brigade Combat Team.

Bagwell is also survived by an 8-year-old son; his mother, Judith; and sister, Sarah.

At Rosman High School, Bagwell played junior varsity basketball and varsity football. His classmates voted him most athletic in 1997, his senior year.

Another soldier killed in the crash was Chief Warrant Officer Chris Allgaier, his father Bob Allgaier told the Omaha (Neb.) World-Herald. The 33-year-old graduate of St. Louis University had a master's degree in aeronautical science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. His wife and three children live near Fort Bragg.