Excerpt from e-mail correspondence with US Senator's Office:
"I keep a copy of the 05FEB07 Newsweek Magazine on my desk--"Blackhawk Down" on the cover. On 20JAN07, two days before my 35th birthday, the battalion I was flying UH-60 Blackhawk Helicopters with (serving also as the Battalion Logistics Officer) lost an entire aircrew and 12 Americans were killed in a calculated ambush north of Baghdad. I'd flown over the same palm grove multiple times in previous weeks and months. Could have been me.
As the entire base communications were shut down, I remember driving across the FOB to the morgue as I was responsible for coordinating return of remains etc... in Balad, Iraq, thinking (in my bubble) that "surely the world will listen" and this will make a difference..." (Coren Jonathan Allen)
FEB06. Pre-deployment site visit (PDSS) picture with Kentucky Army National Guard unit.
Turned out to be my last flight in a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter
USO Tour
Kuwait City, Kuwait
During one of many missions. US flags were flown and displayed on nearly every mission and sent home to family, loved ones and many others
Newsweek Magazine (February 5, 2007) details the Blackhawk helicopter crash and loss of 12 Americans north of Baghdad.
RIP Easy 40. Most never witness. There is no adequate explanation for what takes place in and before the Soldiers present at this ceremony.
RIP Easy 40. Most never witness. There is no adequate explanation for what takes place in and before the Soldiers present at this ceremony.
RIP Easy 40. Most never witness. There is no adequate explanation for what takes place in and before the Soldiers present at this ceremony.