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NORTH ATTLEBORO - The death of a Marine helicopter pilot from North Attleboro came on the deadliest day in four years for U.S. troops fighting in Afghanistan, and officials said it is a reminder of the grave risks faced by servicemen and women every day.

U.S. Rep. James McGovern, D-Worcester, who visited U.S. troops in Afghanistan in August, and was in the Attleboro area Monday, said his heart goes out to the family of Marine Capt. Kyle Van De Giesen family and that he is in awe of the dedication of U.S. troops.

"All of us need to keep this family in our prayers," he said. "They need to know how much we admire and are grateful for his service to our country."

Van De Giesen, a football star at North Attleboro High School in the late 1990s and at St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., was concluding his third deployment to the Iraq-Afghanistan theatre.

Van De Giesen and his wife Megan have a 1 1/2-year-old daughter and were expecting another child in about a month. He was due to complete his nine-month tour next week.

"It's a terrible loss," said North Attleboro Veterans Agent Jim McCann, who said Van De Giesen was dedicated to fulfilling his duty right to the end of his mission.

McCann, whose son played against Van De Giesen during his high school days, said the young man had a reputation as a relentless competitor and leader.

Van De Giesen, 29, a 1998 graduate of North Attleboro High School, was killed Monday in one of two helicopter crashes on one of the bloodiest days of the Afghan war.

Two crashes - one involving a single helicopter and one a midair collision between two aircraft - killed 14 Americans.

It was the deadliest day of combat since June 28, 2005, when 19 troops died.

The losses come as President Barack Obama mulls the future role of Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan as part of a major review of U.S. policy.

It was not clear in which crash Van De Giesen was involved.

In the deadliest crash, a helicopter went down in the west of the country after leaving the scene of a firefight with suspected Taliban drug traffickers, killing 10 Americans - seven troops and the three Drug Enforcement Agency employees. Eleven American troops, one U.S. civilian and 14 Afghans were also injured.

In a separate incident, two Marine helicopters - one UH-1 and an AH-1 Cobra - collided in flight before sunrise over the southern province of Helmand, killing four American troops and wounding two more, Marine spokesman Maj. Bill Pelletier said. "These separate tragedies today underscore the risks to our forces and our partners face every day," said Army Col. Wayne Shanks, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. "Each and every death is a tremendous loss for the family and friends of each servicemember and civilian. Our grief is compounded when we have such a significant loss on one day."

U.S. authorities have ruled out hostile fire in the collision but have not given a cause for the other fatal crash in the west.

Meanwhile, Taliban spokesman Qari Yusuf Ahmedi claimed Taliban fighters shot down a helicopter in northwest Badghis province's Darabam district.

It was impossible to verify the claim and unclear if he was referring to the same incident.

The casualties marked the DEA's first deaths since it began operations here in 2005. Afghanistan is the world's largest producer of opium - the raw ingredient in heroin - and the illicit drug trade is a major source of funding for insurgent groups.

The U.S. has decided to target production and distribution networks after programs to destroy poppy fields did little except turn farmers against the American-led NATO mission.

In the past year, the DEA has launched an ambitious plan to increase its personnel in Afghanistan from about a dozen to nearly 80, greatly expanding its role.

Military spokeswoman Elizabeth Mathias said hostile fire was unlikely because the troops were not receiving fire when the helicopter took off.

NATO said the helicopter was returning from a joint operation that targeted insurgents involved in "narcotics trafficking in western Afghanistan."

"During the operation, insurgent forces engaged the joint force and more than a dozen enemy fighters were killed in the ensuing firefight," a NATO statement said.

U.S. forces also reported the death of two other American service members a day earlier: one in a bomb attack in the east, and another who died of wounds suffered in an insurgent attack in the same region.

The deaths bring to at least 47 the number of U.S. service members who have been killed in October.

This has been the deadliest year for international and U.S. forces since the 2001 invasion to oust the Taliban.

Fighting spiked around the presidential vote in August, and 51 U.S. soldiers died that month - the deadliest for American forces in the eight-year war.

Monday afternoon, Obama lauded the 14 Americans killed in the crashes, saying "they gave their lives to protect ours."

The president said he hoped their friends and loved ones would take comfort in knowing that those killed were, in his words, "doing their duty and they were doing this nation proud."

The president told a military audience Monday he will not be hurried as he evaluates whether to alter U.S. strategy in the war.

"I will never rush the solemn decision of sending you into harm's way. I won't risk your lives unless it is absolutely necessary," Obama said during a visit to Naval Air Station Jacksonville in Florida.

Obama is debating whether to send tens of thousands more troops to the country to curb the burgeoning Taliban-led insurgency.

Doubts about bolstering the U.S. force grew after widespread fraud marred the Aug. 20 presidential election, raising doubt whether the U.S. and its NATO allies had a reliable partner in the fight against the militants.