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U.S. National Guard Unit Heads To Iraq
FORT DIX, NJ - DECEMBER 29: Specialist U.S. soldiers with the 102nd Field Artillery Massachusetts National Guard unit, prepare boards a bus to begin his deployment to Kuwait and Iraq December 29, 2004 at Fort Dix, New Jersey. The National Guard unit was called up and re-trained as a security force unit, and is part of the 15,000 troop buildup in anticipation of the January 30 elections in Iraq. The unit is expected to be deployed for a year or more.
A helicopter crash took the lives of three national guard members when it went down. The cause of the crash needs to be investigated.
Three soldiers were fatalities last Wednesday when the helicopter went down in upstate New York.
Fatalities were part of a New York Army National Guard UH-60 medical evacuation helicopter unit. Based at Army Aviation Support Facility near Rochester International Airport when helicopter crash in Mendon, in New York on a training mission, reported Fox40.
The New York Army National Guard issued a statement, stating that it was part of the 1st Battalion (171st General Support Aviation). Soldiers of this units were identified as those who died in the accidental crash, said The Dailymail. Officials direct that all flags be at half-staff Thursday as a sign of respect for the fallen guardsmen.
The circumstances of the crash
At 6:30 p.m., a National Guard UH-60 medical evacuation helicopter unit seemed to encounter problems while in flight. They were flying over Mendon in a suburb of Rochester when witnesses reported a helicopter flying low close to the ground. Later, the aircraft hit the ground and caught fire when it struck the ground in an open farm field.
According to the Monroe County Sheriff Todd Baxter, the emergency response teams were on point. They saw the crash in the field with the blazing helicopter smoldering, moving to save who they can. At this point, the fatalities were determined by authorities.
Baxter said that the accident was unexpected and the loss of the guardsmen. He added that the identities of those on board the ill-fated aircraft were in process as the National Guard mourned their deaths.
Also read: Missing National Guard F-16 Fighter Pilot Already Found by Search and Rescue Units After Crashing
Government officials in New York joined others in this time of loss. Hazard is always a part of the service, and the deceased soldiers were honored accordingly.
Initial reports gathered by authorities confirmed that the guardsman helicopter unit had engine trouble that led to the tragic accident.
Sources say that officials think only three soldiers died in the crash. It has to be verified further by the National Guard if the count is accurate. Continuing the search will confirm and see if anyone was injured and still escaping the downed helicopter.
A spate of crashes included a downed National Guard F-16 recently that led to the pilot's death despite efforts to locate him in time. The impact happens in Hiawatha National Forest in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
Officials believe three were killed in the crash, but they are waiting for full confirmation from the National Guard on how many soldiers were on board. They continue searching for any possible survivors who may have been able to eject from the crash.
The New York Governor said that the accident is saddening as the Guardsmen serve the United States at home and abroad. These men voluntarily do the nation, and he extended his condolences to the families of the deceased.
For their service, the governor gave a tribute to the fallen in service to the nation and state. Despite several agencies' unified effort to save someone in the accident, no one survived the three National Guard Members.
