Cape Cod native among victims in Afghanistan helicopter crash

A Navy SEAL raised in Cape Cod was one of more than 30 American troops killed Saturday in a helicopter crash in eastern Afghanistan.

Kevin Houston, 36, of Chesapeake, Va., died when insurgents shot down a Chinook transport helicopter carrying 22 members of Navy SEAL Team 6, the elite unit that killed Osama bin Laden, although they were not the same ones who participated in the raid that killed the Al Qaeda leader. Eight Afghans also died.

Houston, a 1994 graduate of Barnstable High School, completed three tours in Afghanistan and had received a Purple Heart medal, two bronze star medals, and 10 other decorations. He was a handsome, gregarious athlete, who had wanted to be a Navy SEAL since he was a toddler, said friends on Cape Cod.

“This is what he had always dreamed of doing,’’ said Christopher Kelly of Osterville, who described himself as a father figure to Houston. “They’re the elite, the best, and so was Kevin.’’

Houston began coming to the Kelly home in high school because he was dating Kelly’s daughter, Kelly said. The two men struck up a friendship over a mutual interest in the military.

“He’d come over, and he wanted to see my photo albums and mementos from Vietnam,’’ Kelly said. “He was always asking, always interested in that kind of thing.’’

Houston joined the Navy in 1995, and got into the SEALs a few years later, Kelly said. Of the 500 candidates in Houston’s training class, only 22 made the cut.

Joe Kennedy, 35, of Osterville, who had been Houston’s friend since elementary school, echoed Houston’s passion for the military and its history. Houston was the type of person who could rattle off names of all the aircraft used in the Vietnam War.

“He soaked that up,’’ Kennedy said. “He was absolutely fascinated by it.’’

Helping people and serving his country attracted Houston to the SEALs, Kennedy said.

Once when they were in high school, Kennedy and Houston spotted an elderly woman with blown-out tires by the side of the road. Houston insisted they pull over. When she said she was simply waiting for AAA to come, Houston said they would wait with her.

“She tried to give him $20,’’ Kennedy said. “He was virtually insulted.’’

Houston was captain of the Barnstable High School football team. Paul Demanche, Houston’s high school coach, said Houston was the one who could rally the players when coaches failed to. Houston’s smile disarmed coaches of their tough-guy persona and left them walking away chuckling.

“His personality and his smile were infectious,’’ Demanche said. “… Even if you had to coach him or criticize him, he’d get this big grin.’’