Ex-Tucson soldier died Christmas Eve in Afghan combat

He was a mechanic at several Midtown auto shops.

He was a doting father to twin 4-year-old girls.

And he was a man who believed in fighting the good fight, making the world a safer place and helping the oppressed.

It's why the highly decorated soldier signed up again a few years ago, after an earlier tour in Iraq. He was then sent to Afghanistan, where enemy fire took his life on Christmas Eve.

The 42-year-old infantryman was in Paktika, Afghanistan, when his combat outpost came under enemy rocket fire, according to the Department of Defense press release on the attack.

Gaffney was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.

He is the 38th service member with ties to Tucson and Southern Arizona to be claimed by the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Gaffney was the seventh service member to be killed in 2008.

Gaffney and his family moved to Tucson in the late '70s, his father said Wednesday. Gaffney joined the Army in the mid-'80s. He served about six years, spending most of that time in Germany, and then returned to Tucson. He worked at several auto shops along Speedway that have since closed, his father said, and he moved to Las Vegas after a while and worked for a Porsche dealership there.

Meanwhile, his parents moved to Phoenix and Gaffney moved there, too, several years ago. That's when he decided he needed to serve his country again, Charles P. Gaffney Sr. said.

"I won't say I was upset he was going back, but I didn't want him to," his father said. "He told me it was for people's rights around the world, for them to say what they want to say without other people beating them down. And he said he never wanted anyone to come here to the United States and tell his daughters that they had to do things a certain way.

"And then I couldn't argue with him."

Gaffney went to Iraq in 2006-07 and was part of security forces outside Baghdad, his father said. He joined up again and was sent to Afghanistan in October.

"He said, 'I'm going back again.' He said, 'It has to be taken care of.'"

Hank Savko, a family friend, also remembers the younger man talking about his resolve.

"He had said, 'I'm not doing it for myself. I'm doing it for the women of Afghanistan.' We kind of looked at him and said, 'Why?' He said the women of Afghanistan are so mistreated, they're not really people like we are in this country. He said, 'I'm doing it for them.' "

Gaffney earned numerous accolades for his service, including the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and two Global War on Terrorism Service Medals. He also was awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart, his father said, for his recent service.

"He was very decorated," his father said.

He talked to his son the day before he died, and Gaffney sent him a digital picture of himself in the field.

The two didn't talk about much else then, especially not the mission Gaffney was on that took him to the remote Afghan province that adjoins the border of Pakistan.

Gaffney Sr. also shied away from talking about specifics of what his son did, sharing instead memories of a man who loved his family, his country and the occasional adrenaline rush.

"We used to ride Mount Lemmon together," he said. "Charles always told me I was too slow. The boy had no fear."

Racing motorcycles became a big part of his son's life while he was stationed in Germany, Gaffney Sr. said. He even had partial corporate sponsorship for a while. Gaffney continued riding in Phoenix and had many friends in the motorcycle community, both in Phoenix and in Tucson.

"He was an avid motorcycle enthusiast," his father said. "I won't say it was a passion, but at one time when he was in Germany he rode competitively."

Motorcycle riders will be a big part of Gaffney's local memorial service, too.

Gaffney will be buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery, but his family will remember him first in Tucson on Sunday.

His youngest sister died several years ago and Gaffney, who'd been very close to her, had told his family he'd like to be buried next to her. While they decided the Arlington burial was an honor he truly deserved, they'll hold his local service where she's buried, at East Lawn Palms Cemetery. They'll proceed there from Phoenix with full escort from a number of veterans' groups, then get together afterward at an American Legion post.

In addition to his father, Gaffney is survived by his mother, Fina; his wife, Latticia, and his twin daughters, Cara and Mia, named for the Italian phrase cara mia, or my beloved. He also is survived by a younger brother, Jason,; a younger sister, Bethany,; and an older sister, Maryanne. He'll be memorialized next to the sister he lost, Catherine.