DOD photo / Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo

Panetta lauds new Southcom chief Kelly, sitting between his predecessor in the post, Air Force General Doug Fraser, right, and Army General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs.

“The Kellys, like thousands of other military families over the last decade, have felt the heartbreak of war in the most profound way possible.”
— Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, speaking Monday in Miami of his outgoing senior military assistant, Marine General John Kelly, and his wife, Karen, as Kelly became chief of U.S. Southern Command. Their son, Marine 2nd Lt. Robert M. Kelly, 29, was killed by a land mine while on a foot patrol in Helmand province, Afghanistan, two years ago this month.
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