U.S. Army Capt. Benjamin Sklaver (LA '99, F '03) was killed Friday during an ambush in Muscheh, Afghanistan, near the Pakistani border. He was 32.
Sklaver, a captain in the 422nd Civil Affairs Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, was serving in his second tour of duty.
The ambush is believed to have been perpetrated by a suicide bomber.
Sklaver graduated from the School of Arts and Sciences in 1999 with an international relations degree. He focused on security studies and humanitarian assistance at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. While at Tufts, he enrolled in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program, and went on to serve with the U.S. Army in northern Uganda.
Sklaver's service with the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa in northern Uganda opened his eyes to the problems plaguing the region, a site of continuous civil unrest and conflict since the 1980s. He returned home determined to bring clean drinking water to villagers who did not have access to it because of the violence there.
While working for the Centers For Disease Control on emergency health and refugee relief, Sklaver founded the ClearWater Initiative in 2007. This international nonprofit organization works to supply clean drinking water to rural Ugandans.
ClearWater is an all-volunteer organization. Drawing on the efforts of Sklaver and other leaders, the nonprofit spent a full 78 percent of its total 2008 budget on water projects, according to the ClearWater Web site.
Thomas Williams, Tufts' senior associate director of alumni relations, who knew Sklaver personally when Williams first began working at Tufts, called him "an outstanding person."
"He was very energetic," Williams said, "a very civic and public-minded citizen."
Sklaver was a native of Hamden, Conn. On Monday, Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell ordered all flags lowered to half staff in honor of the fallen captain. In a statement released by her office, Rell called Sklaver "a brave son who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedom."
The flags will remain at half staff until Sklaver has been laid to rest. Funeral arrangements are set for today.
Sklaver was engaged to be married to Beth Segaloff. Shortly before he was called back into active duty in Afghanistan, Sklaver had taken a job with the Federal Emergency Management Agency in New York so that he could be closer to Segaloff.
During his time at Tufts, Sklaver had been an active member of the Jewish community. Tufts Hillel Executive Director Rabbi Jeffrey Summit, who is a member of Sklaver's extended family and grew up with his parents, said he was heartbroken by the loss.
"Ben was an extraordinary man," Summit told the Daily in an e-mail statement. "He had the gift of being able to combine his vision and practical experience to make transformational changes in communities."
According to Williams, Sklaver was also part of a student-alumni relations committee that recruited alumni to come to campus to speak with current students about their majors and career aspirations.
Director of Public Relations Kim Thurler expressed her sadness on behalf of the university. "Our hearts go out to Benjamin Sklaver's family and friends on the loss of this caring and courageous young man," Thurler told the Daily.
For Tomo Takaki, a junior and a member of the ROTC, the news is a stark reminder of the realities of the ongoing military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. "We're all aware of the risk, but you don't really think about it every day," Takaki said.
"When it's right in your community — someone who lived in the same buildings you do — it makes it a lot more real," Takaki said.
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Katherine Sawyer, Ben Gittleson and Giovanni Russonello contributed reporting to this article.
