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Legion blog raises $50k for Kamdesh troops

WASHINGTON — The American Legion says one of its blog sites has raised more than $50,000 in less than a week for soldiers who lost their personal belongs during an Oct. 3 attack at a remote outpost in northeastern Afghanistan.

The fund was started after a soldier wrote in an e-mail that he didn’t think anyone back in the U.S. knew what they were doing there and questioned if anyone cared.

Eight soldiers based at Fort Carson, Colo., were killed in the attack at Combat Outpost Keating in Kamdesh, which has since been vacated.

The American Legion says Target Corp. has added $30,000 in gift cards and merchandise to help the dozens of troops who lost possessions. It says it will begin buying the items later this week.