It is a sad day for the Army

[headhunter636]

I don't know if anyone read about the U.S Army helicopter crash in Germany the other day, but a friend of mine was one of the the pilots who lost their lives. If you would, please keep him and his family in your thoughts.

It is a darn shame really, he deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan at least 4 times and then dies in a training flight.

Dave

[cgallery]

My deepest condolences.

Dieing in combat would have made him no greater a patriot than he already was.

[Uncle Cracker]

Deepest sympathy, and gratitude for service to our country.

[cabinetman]

Sorry to hear about your friend. I've lost friends in service that lost their lives during hostile action. None were in a training mission.

Dieing in combat would have made him no greater a patriot than he already was.

Many men entering our armed services have a weak grasp of the serious potential involved with military service. There are distractions to the real dangers. Loss of life is a loss whether it was from combat, training, illness, or accident. The time serving was for a belief and a desire to stand for and act on principles.

What I find as sad are those that were maimed or injured that didn't die, but have to live with missing body parts, handicaps, and mental disorders. Many of those were just young kids, basically just starting out in life. Visiting them in a field situation, or even in a hospital, and finding words that would console them that seemed right was difficult.
.

[Norm in Fujino]

My condolences as well. But there is really no rhyme or reason to these things. As Ecclesiastes says:

"Meaningless! Meaningless!"
says the Teacher.
"Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless."

. . . the wise man, like the fool, will not be long remembered;
in days to come both will be forgotten.
Like the fool, the wise man too must die!"

In 1971 I was on a helicopter carrier that lost 9 or 10 men within a couple of weeks. Most were on two CH-46 helicopters that fell out of the sky on training runs. The reason? Failure to have a $2.00 cotter pin installed in the main nut holding one of the gears together (so we were told, at least). Then during a storm out of Sasebo, three men were washed out of one of the elevator bays during a storm. Only two were picked up alive; the other was never seen again. It's saddest when the young are taken and we old geezers are left.

[os1kne]

I'm sorry for your loss. I will keep his family in my prayers.

[crokett]

I am sorry for your loss. I will be praying for your family and his family.

[headhunter636]

Thank you all for the kind words. He was a great man, Soldier, father and husband. Every headline I read about a member of our military paying the ultimate price for freedom makes me appreciate how lucky I've been for the past 20 years, but when one of those Soldiers is someone I know, it is just heartbreaking to think about the family he is leaving behind.

Thank you again,
Dave

[Tom Slick]

I'm really sorry to hear about your friend and his fellow soldiers.

It's an unfortunate statistic that most military deaths are not combat related, and often happen during training.

[scmhogg]

I was in the 101st Airborne from 1961 to 1964. Three years of actual peace-time.

When I saw how many we maimed or killed in field maneuvers, I questioned what would happen if we actually had someone shooting at us.

I remember a Captain lost his legs on an artillery observation post. Gunners sent a 105mm shell to the OP instead of the target area.

At Fort Bragg, an out of position plane flew through a group of paratroopers.

At Ft. Campbell a tank ran over a soldier asleep in his sleeping bag.

A HU1B crashed next to our barracks and all aboard were killed.

It's a dangerous job!

Steve