23-year-old soldier from Illinois dies in US military base attack in Kenya, family says

A suburban Chicago man was among three people killed in an Islamist extremist attack on a U.S. military base in Kenya on Sunday, his family says.

Henry Mayfield Jr., 23, was an Army specialist from Hazel Crest and joined the Army in 2018 after studying at Northern Illinois University, WBBM reported.

He was killed along with two U.S. Department of Defense contractors when members of the Islamist militant group al-Shabab overran a military base used by U.S. and Kenyan troops in the Lamu region, BBC reported.

Mayfield’s family says military officials contacted them Sunday afternoon with news of his death, WMAQ reported.

His mother, Carmoneta Horton-Mayfield, told the outlet she last spoke to her son on New Year’s Eve over FaceTime.

“He told me everything would be okay,” she said. “Those were his last words to me.”

Horton-Mayfield shared a post on Facebook thanking those who’d reached out for their “touching words,” adding that the family “[feels] the love.” She also requested readers keep her family in prayer.

U.S. Army Gen. Stephen Townsend, commander of the U.S. Africa Command, released a statement vowing to pursue those responsible for the attack, according to CNN.

“As we honor their sacrifice, let’s also harden our resolve,” the statement said. “Alongside our African and international partners, we will pursue those responsible for this attack and al-Shabaab who seeks to harm Americans and U.S. interests. We remain committed to preventing al-Shabaab from maintaining a safe haven to plan deadly attacks against the U.S. homeland, East African and international partners.”

Officials say five al-Shabab attackers were killed by both U.S. and Kenyan troops, WBBM reported.

Al-Shabab is based in Somalia and has ties to al-Qaeda, according to BBC.