The Army confirmed Thursday that the Jan. 5 firefight that left a group of American soldiers surrounded by the Taliban resulted in the death of Staff Sgt. Matthew McClintock. This 30 year-old Special Forces engineer sergeant was a member of the Washington National Guard. He leaves behind his wife and newborn son, Declan.

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“On January 5th 2016 the greatest man I know, my husband, the love of my life, Matthew was killed in action,” His wife, Alexandra McClintock, wrote in a Facebook post. “Matthew always wanted to be a father and I’m blessed to have been able to give him a son who he got to meet and loved with all his heart.”

McClintock joined the Army in 2006 and was first deployed in Iraq in 2007. After attending the U.S. Army Special Forces school in 2009, he completed two more tours in Afghanistan before leaving active duty in December 2014 to become a guardsman. The Green Beret left home once more in July 2015 with the Washington Army National Guard’s Company A, 1/19th Special Forces Group.

The same battle with the Taliban left two other Americans and four Afghan troops injured. McClintock and his injured comrades were extracted with a medevac helicopter, but it was grounded after a rotar blade struck a building. The helicopter and its patients were finally rescued Wednesday night.

Maj. Gen. Bret Daugherty of the Washington National Guard expressed his sadness in the wake of McClintock’s death.

“Staff Sgt. McClintock was one of the best of the best,” Daugherty said. “He was a Green Beret who sacrificed time away from his loved ones to train for and carry out these dangerous missions.”

A GoFundMe page has already been established to raise money for McClintock’s widow and son.