Montco native killed in Afghanistan was Air Force investigator

WASHINGTON - One of the American troops killed in a suicide attack in Afghanistan was Staff Sgt. Peter W. Taub, 30, a Wyncote native and Air Force investigator who hoped to join his family in the restaurant business after leaving the military, his mother said Tuesday.

Arlene Wagner told the AP that her son was one of six Americans killed in the attack near Bagram Airfield on Monday. She said she was informed of his death on Monday.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, in which a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden motorcycle into a joint NATO-Afghan patrol.

Taub worked for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and was stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota, his mother said. He leaves behind his pregnant wife and a 3-year-old daughter.

Wagner and Taub's brother, Jonathan, a chef, run a popular sandwich shop, Bub and Pops, in downtown Washington. The shop posted messages saying it would be closed this week because of Taub's death.

Taub was deployed to Afghanistan in October.

"He and his brother had plans for a farm and raising herbs and different things for expanding the restaurant or new concepts - lots of things that are not going to happen," Wagner said.

The Department of Defense released a statement announcing the deaths of and identified Taub and five others:

Maj. Adrianna M. Vorderbruggen, 36, of Plymouth, Minn. She was assigned to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.

Staff Sgt. Michael A. Cinco, 28, of Mercedes, Texas, assigned to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph.

Staff Sgt. Chester J. McBride, 30, of Statesboro, Ga. He was assigned to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama.

Technical Sgt. Joseph G. Lemm, 45, of the Bronx, a New York City police detective. He was assigned to the 105th Security Forces Squadron at Stewart Air National Guard Base, New York.

Staff Sgt. Louis M. Bonacasa, 31, of Coram, N.Y., also assigned to the 105th Security Forces Squadron.

Taub's mother said she was heartbroken for the other five families who lost loved ones in the attack, which was the deadliest on international forces since August.

"I'm pretty devastated," she said.