
TUCSON, Ariz. — The father of a Phoenix soldier who was killed when enemy rockets rained down on his Army outpost in Afghanistan on Christmas Eve said his son rejoined the Army several years ago because he wanted to protect “people’s rights around the world.”
Charles P. Gaffney Sr. said his son, Charles Jr., couldn’t be dissuaded from rejoining the Army, which he left after a tour that began in the mid-1980s. The 42-year-old father of two was on duty at a combat outpost in the remote Paktika province when he died.
A corporal with the 101st Airborne Division based at Fort Campbell, Ky., he moved with his family to...