Associated Press

President Obama and Maj. Gen. Daniel Wright salute Army Sgt. Dale R. Griffin of Terre Haute, Ind. Griffin, a former VMI student, died in a bomb attack in Afghanistan that killed six other soldiers. The plane carried the bodies of 18 Americans, part of the cost of the war's deadliest month for the U.S.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Sgt. Dale Griffin was the son of a Mormon bishop, a champion wrestler and Virginia Military Institute student who was struggling to find his way in the world when he turned to the military.

Killed Tuesday by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan, the body of the Army sergeant from Terre Haute, Ind., came home in a line of flag-draped coffins saluted in Thursday's pre-dawn darkness by President Obama at Dover Air Force Base.

In a surprise midnight dash to this Delaware base where U.S. forces killed overseas come home, Obama honored the return of 18 fallen Americans on Thursday. All were killed in Afghanistan this week, a brutal stretch that turned October into the most deadly month for U.S. troops since the war began.

The somber return was captured in full view of the media, reflecting Obama's decision to relax an 18-year ban on such coverage that dates to the 1991 Gulf War and was strengthened by President Bush. Now families decide whether cameras can document the return.

Army Sgt. Dale R. Griffin of Terre Haute, Ind. Griffin, a former VMI student, died in a bomb attack in Afghanistan that killed six other soldiers.

The president led a team of officials onto the gray C-17 cargo plane carrying Griffin, and then back off, where they stood for several minutes in a line of honor.

Griffin attended VMI for three semesters, majoring in economics and business. As a freshman, he won his weight class and was named the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the 2000 All-Academy Wrestling Championship.

"I have very fond memories of Dale and what he accomplished here at VMI," said VMI wrestling coach John Trudgeon, who recalled Griffin as soft-spoken but confident.

But VMI buddy Chaz Wagner said Griffin was "a free spirit" who surprised his friend when he enlisted.

"He liked to have fun and seemed more of a partier than a military kind of guy," Wagner said.

Griffin, 29, was deployed with the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash., when he and six other soldiers were killed in Tuesday's bomb in Kandahar province, the military said.

His deployment to Afghanistan was Griffin's first since enlisting in 2005, said Joe Kubistek, a Fort Lewis spokesman.

"He wanted to be part of an organization that was taking care of things," said Steve Joseph, his wrestling coach at Terre Haute South High School. "He wasn't just a member of something: He wanted to do the very best he possibly could in it."

Joseph coached Griffin to a state runner-up finish in the 189-pound weight class in 1999. Griffin was a team captain, an Eagle Scout and a member of the football team, he said.

Griffin's father, Gene, is a financial planner and the former Mormon bishop in Terre Haute, about 70 miles west of Indianapolis. His mother, Dona, recently organized other women in the Relief Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to make fleece blankets for deployed service members.

"They're very strong and faithful people," said Christopher Newton, a family friend and current Terre Haute Mormon bishop. "Dale Griffin is the kind of person if you were going to get into a fight, and you were picking sides, he's the first one you would pick. He was just unbelievably tough and resilient," said Newton, a Vigo County judge.

Dona and Gene Griffin said their son, the youngest of four children, first mentioned a possible military career in high school -- something he returned to again and again.

"I think it was simply because of everything that has happened since 2001 and the risk that he saw to his country and what measures needed to be taken to move those forces as far away as possible from our country," Gene Griffin said.

AFGHANISTAN WAR DEAD WITH WESTERN VIRGINIA TIES:

1. Marine Lance Cpl. Juston Tyler Thacker, 21, of Princeton, W.Va. He was born in Roanoke and lived here for about four years, according to his father, who lives in Montvale. He was killed June 24, 2004, in an ambush near Bari Khout.

2. and 3. Two soldiers in the Winchester-based 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, 1st "Stonewall" Brigade, 29th Division of the Virginia Army National Guard were killed Aug. 7, 2004, by a roadside bomb in Ghazikel. Staff Sgt. Craig W. Cherry, 39, of Winchester, and Sgt. Bobby E. Beasley, 36, of Inwood, W.Va., died along with Afghan translator Ajmal Behrouz, 20. The 3rd Battalion includes more than 200 soldiers from Southwest Virginia, including 129-soldier Bedford-based Company C.

4. Spc. Chrystal G. Stout, 23, of Travelers Rest, S.C., with the South Carolina Army National Guard, was killed April 6, 2005, in a helicopter crash that killed 18 people in Ghazni. Stout was born and raised in Hillsville. She visited family in Hillsville each year and planned to attend Liberty University.

5. Staff Sgt. Jesse G. Clowers Jr, 27, with the U.S. Army Special Forces, was killed by a roadside bomb along with two other soliders on Aug. 12, 2007, while on patrol in the Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. Clowers grew up in Southwest Roanoke County and graduated from Cave Spring High School and Virginia Tech, where he was a varsity cheerleader. At the time of his death, Clowers was about one month from returning home to meet his newborn daugher, Danielle, for the first time.

6. Master Sgt. Jerome D. Hatfield, 36, a Marine from Axton, was killed July 11, 2009, by an explosion in the Helmand province of Afghanistan during combat operations. According to the Department of Defense, Hatfield deployed to Afghanistan earlier this year. Hatfield's most recent station of duty was Camp Lejuene, N.C., where he was assigned to the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division and II Marine Expeditionary Force.

7. Marine Capt. David S. Mitchell, 30, a 2001 Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets graduate who was a Loveland, Ohio, native, was killed Oct. 26, 2009, in Afghanistan, the fourth member of his cadet class killed since their graduation. Mitchell had been serving in Helmand province with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 367, Marine Aircraft Group 39, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, I Marine Expeditionary Force, based out of Camp Pendleton, Calif.

8. Army Sgt. Dale R. Griffin, 29, of Terre Haute, Ind., was killed Oct. 27, 2009, in Arghandab Valley, Afghanistan, in an IED explosion along with six other soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash. Griffin entered Virginia Military Institute in 2003 and spent three semesters there. Griffin's remains and those of 17 other Americans who died in Afghanistan were flown to Dover Air Force Base on Oct. 28, 2009, where President Obama met the plane.

IRAQ WAR DEAD WITH WESTERN VIRGINIA TIES:

1. Marine Sgt. Michael Lalush, 23, a 1997 graduate of Lord Botetourt High who lived in California and whose parents still live in Botetourt County, died March 30, 2003, in a helicopter crash.

2. Army 1st Lt. Jeffrey Kaylor, 24, a 2001 Virginia Tech graduate from Clifton, was killed April 7, 2003, in a grenade attack.

3. Army Sgt. Michael Dooley, 23, a graduate of Pulaski County High School who lived in Colorado, was killed June 8, 2003, in a traffic checkpoint shooting.

4. Army Capt. John Teal, 31, a 1994 graduate of Virginia Military Institute from Mechanicsville, was killed October 23, 2003, by a roadside bomb in Baqubah.

5. Army 1st Lt. Joshua Hurley, 24, a 2001 graduate of Virginia Military Institute, formerly from Clifton Forge, was killed Nov. 1, 2003, by a roadside bomb in Mosul.

6. New Jersey Army National Guard Sgt. Ryan Doltz, 26, a 2002 graduate of Virginia Military Institute from Mine Hill, N.J., was killed June 5, 2004, by a roadside bomb in Baghdad.

7. Army Maj. Paul Syverson III, 32, a 1993 graduate of Virginia Military Institute from Illinois, was killed in a mortar attack, June 16, 2004, in a mortar attack in Balad.

8. Marine Lance Cpl. Deshon Otey, 24, of Kentucky whose father lives in Roanoke, was killed June 21, 2004, when his patrol was ambushed in Ramadi.

9. Army Staff Sgt. Gregory V. Pennington, 36, of Glade Spring, Va., was killed June 21, 2004, during a mortar attack on his camp in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, based at Fort Hood, Texas. (AP - Pennington was killed as he led his men out of their barracks, his father said. "His captain said he died a hero," Aulbin Pennington of Konnarock said. Pennington had talked to his son one day earlier, Father's Day. "He was Special Forces and he wasn't allowed to talk (about his assignment), you know how they are. But did tell me mortars were going off constantly and stuff." He had been in the Army 12 years and in Iraq for more than three months. The elder Pennington said his son was married but had no children. Visitors to the soldier's Damascus, Va., high school stopped to sign bulletin boards in his memory. "I'm very proud to have known him," said Leigh Ann Copenhaver, who graduated with Pennington in 1986. "I'll remember how proud he made this community." Survivors include his wife, Janet.)

10. Marine Staff Sgt. John Ryan Howard, 26, a 1996 graduate of Alleghany High School who lived in San Diego, was killed Aug. 11, 2004, in a helicopter crash.

11. Army 1st Lt. Tim Price, 25, a 2001 graduate of Virginia Tech who was from Midlothian, was killed Sept. 7, 2004, by small arms fire in Baghdad.

12. Army Staff Sgt. Guy Stanley Hagy Jr. , 31, who was born and raised in Thompson Valley in Tazewell County and lived in California and Texas, was killed Sept. 13, 2004, when a bomb exploded near his observation post in Baghdad.

13. Army Spc. Robert Oliver Unruh, 25, a 1998 Salem High School graduate whose family has since moved to Arizona, was killed Sept. 25, 2004, in Anbar Province when his combat engineer unit was hit by enemy fire. He was a fourth-generation soldier.

14. Army 1st Lt. Luke Wullenwaber, 24, a 2002 Virginia Military Institute graduate who was from Lewiston, Idaho, died Nov. 16, 2004, when a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb near Khalidiyah.

15. Marine Lance Cpl. Demarkus D. Brown, 22, of Martinsville, killed by enemy action Nov. 19, 2004, in Al Anbar Province, which includes Fallujah.

16. Marine Cpl. Bradley Arms, 20, with the Lynchburg-based Company C, 4th Combat Engineer Battalion, 4th Marine Division, was killed in a firefight in Fallujah on Nov. 19, 2004. Arms was from Charlottesville and was a student at the University of Georgia.

17. Army Sgt. Nicholas Mason, 20, of King George, was with Virginia Army National Guard's 276th Engineer Battalion in Mosul when a suicide attack was launched on the mess tent Dec. 21, 2004. Twenty-two people died, including 14 U.S. troops and four American civilians. Mason was a Virginia Tech student.

18. Army Staff Sgt. Nathaniel Nyren, 31, of Reston was killed in Dec. 28, 2004, when his Humvee rolled over after being struck by a civilian vehicle. He attended Virginia Tech in the early 1990s.

19. Marine Cpl. Jonathan Williams Bowling, 23, with the Lynchburg-based Company C, 4th Combat Engineer Battalion, 4th Marine Division, was killed in a rocket-propelled grenade ambush attack on his convoy in Anbar Province on Jan. 26, 2005. It was the deadliest day for U.S. troops since the war began. Bowling was an officer with the Martinsville Police Department and the son of a Virginia State Trooper. He lived in Stuart.

20. Marine Cpl. Christopher Weaver, 24, with the Lynchburg-based Company C, 4th Combat Engineer Battalion, 4th Marine Division, was killed in a rocket-propelled grenade ambush attack on his convoy in Anbar Province on Jan. 26, 2005. It was the deadliest day for U.S. troops since the war began. Weaver was from Fredericksburg and had graduated from Virginia Tech in December 2002 with a bachelor's degree in history. He became a Marine reservist after his freshman year.

21. Marine Sgt. Jesse Strong, 24, with the Lynchburg-based Company C, 4th Combat Engineer Battalion, 4th Marine Division, was killed in a rocket-propelled grenade ambush attack on his convoy in Anbar Province on Jan. 26, 2005. It was the deadliest day for U.S. troops since the war began. Strong was from Albany, Vt., and had graduated from Liberty University in 2004.

22. Marine Lance Cpl. Karl Linn, 20, with the Lynchburg-based Company C, 4th Combat Engineer Battalion, 4th Marine Division, was killed in a rocket-propelled grenade ambush attack on his convoy in Anbar Province on Jan. 26, 2005. It was the deadliest day for U.S. troops since the war began. Linn was from Midlothian and was a student at Virginia Commonwealth University.

23. Marine Capt. James C. Edge, 31, was killed April 14, 2005, by small-arms fire in Ramadi. The Virginia Beach native became the sixth Virginia Military Institute graduate to die in the Iraq war. He graduated from VMI in 1996.

24. Civilian contractor David Michael Patterson, 27, whose father lives in Eagle Rock and grandparents in Clifton Forge where he spent summers as a child, died April 21, 2005, when his helicopter was shot down north of Baghdad. The former U.S. Army reservist, who lived in North Carolina, worked for Blackwater Security Consulting and was responsible for protecting U.S. diplomats.

25. Marine Lance Cpl. Jourdan L. Grez, 24, of Harrisonburg, who belonged to B Company, 4th Combat Engineer Battalion, 4th Marine Division, a Roanoke-based reserve unit, was killed May 11, 2005, by a roadside bomb in Karabilah.

26. Army, Jason Sheuerman of Lynchburg soldier died July 30, 2005, in Iraq from non-combat related injuries. He was the fourth soldier from Lynchburg to die this year in Iraq.

27. Army Spc. Jared William Kubasak, 25, of Rocky Mount died Dec. 11 or 12, 2005, in a roadside bombing near Baghdad, Iraq. He was with I-Troop, 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment based in Fort Carson, Colo.

28. Marine Gunnery Sgt. Justin R. Martone, 31, who went to high school in Bedford County, died March 7, 2006, in a roadside bombing in the Al Anbar province of Iraq. Martone was assigned to the 1st Marine Logistics Group, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. He had deployed from Okinawa in February on his second tour of duty in Iraq. Martone lived in Goodview as a teenager and played football for and graduated from Staunton River High School. He enlisted in the Marine Corps immediately after high school graduation.

29. Army Sgt. Brandon S. Asbury, 21, of Tazewell, died Oct. 7, 2006, in Baghdad from injuries suffered when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using small-arms fire. Asbury was assigned to the 4th Support Battalion, 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

30. Marine 1st Lt. Joshua Booth, 23, of Fiskdale, Mass., died Oct. 17, 2006, in combat in Haditha, Iraq. Booth was born in Virginia Beach, grew up in Sturbridge, Mass., and graduated from the Citadel. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. He asked to be buried in Bedford because of old family connections to the town.

31. Marine Lance Cpl. Daniel Todd Morris, 19, of Raphine was killed Feb. 14, 2007, during combat in the Al Anbar Province near Haqlaniyah. He served with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, based in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

32. Army Sgt. Shawn Micheal Dunkin, 25, who grew up in Alleghany County, was killed Feb. 19, 2007, by a roadside bomb southwest of Baghdad. He was on his second tour in Iraq and was an infantry scout with the New York-based 10th Mountain Division.

33. Virginia Army National Guard Sgt. David Lambert, 39, Cedar Bluff in Tazewell County, died Oct. 26, 2007, of wounds sustained from an improvided explosive device in Baghdad, Iraq, that also wounded four other guardsmen. All five were members of the 237th Engineer Company, 276th Engineer Battalion, 91st Troop Command based in West Point, Va.

34. Army Spc. Ruth "Mickey Jenkins was killed Oct. 30, 2007, his 22nd birthday, in Salman Pak, Iraq, when enemy forces engaged his unit with small arms fire and an improvised explosive device. Two other soldiers died in the attack. Jenkins, a graduate of Magna Vista High School in Henry County, was with the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Bridgade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division based in Fort Benning, Ga.

35. Army Staff Sgt. Jesse A. Ault, 28, of Dublin, died April 9, 2008, after an improvised explosive device struck his vehicle during convoy operations south of Baghdad. Ault was assigned to the Company E, 429th Brigade Support Battalion, based in Roanoke, with the Virginia Army National Guard.

36. Army Spc. William McMillan III, 22, died July 8, 2008, of wounds suffered in Iraq after his patrol was struck by an improvised explosive device. McMillan matriculated with Virginia Military Institute's class of 2008, but left VMI near the end of the 2005 academic year. He was on the lacrosse team during his time at VMI. He was assigned as a medic to the 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team of the 25th Infantry Division. His unit deployed to Iraq from its base at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, last December. McMillan's family lives in Lexington, Ky. He is the ninth former VMI student to die in the Iraq war.

37. Army Staff Sgt. David W. Textor, 27, died July 15, 2008, from massive head trauma after being thrown from the gunner's postion on a Humvee in an accident in Mosul, Iraq, according to his family. Textor lived in Roanoke for two years before enlisting in the Army, and his mother lives in Salem. He was a Green Beret who lived in Olympia, Wash., and was with the 3rd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), based out of Fort Lewis, Wash.

38. Army Sgt. Kenneth B. Gibson, 25, of Christiansburg, was fatally injured by an improvised explosive device that detonated near him during operations in Tarmiyah on Aug. 10, 2008. Gibson was a 2001 graduate of Christiansburg High School who joined the Army in 2002. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

39. Army Pfc. Bradley S. Coleman, 24, of Martinsville died Oct. 29, 2008, at Qayyarah Airfield in Iraq. He sustained a gunshot wound in a noncombat-related incident, according to a news release and his mother. He was assigned to the 51st Transportation Company, Mannheim, Germany.