A 23-year-old Schofield Barracks soldier was among four soldiers killed Thursday in the crash of a Black Hawk helicopter in southern Afghanistan, a close friend confirmed.
All four American crew members were killed as the chopper responded to a suicide attack on a police checkpoint during a night flight in bad weather, The Associated Press reported.
Jessica Robertson said one of those killed was her friend Dean Shaffer of Pekin, Ill. Shaffer’s Facebook page said he lived at Wheeler Army Airfield and was a crew chief with the 2nd Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment.
"He always had a smile on his face. He was just a very happy person all the time," said Robertson, who knew Shaffer from their days in the junior ROTC program at Pekin Community High School.
The military as of Friday had not confirmed the identities of the soldiers or whether the Black Hawk was based out of Wheeler. The Pentagon waits 24 hours after next of kin are notified to release names of combat casualties.
Shaffer’s father, also named Dean, who lives in Nevada, posted his feelings about his son’s loss on his Facebook page.
"This is the saddest day of my life. I can’t stop crying. It’s my honor to know him my entire life," the post said. "I remember so many great times. … Now seeing on his (Facebook) page how many he touched I knew he was a great man, but seeing all your posts says it all. Thank you."
He added that he will meet his son’s body at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Sunday.
In January about 2,600 Hawaii soldiers with the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade left for a yearlong deployment to southern Afghanistan. The unit deployed with all of its roughly 90 Black Hawk, Chinook and Kiowa Warrior helicopters.
The aviation brigade, with the addition of more than 400 soldiers and Apache attack helicopters from Colorado, was to be based at Kandahar, Tarin Kowt in Uruzgan province and Forward Operating Base Wolverine in Zabul province, officials said.
Shaffer’s death, and the other soldiers aboard if they are from Schofield, represent the first fatalities for the aviation brigade on the deployment.
The Pentagon said Friday only that four International Security Assistance Force service members died in a helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan and that the cause of the crash is under investigation. The 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii referred questions to an Afghanistan command.
The chief of the Garmsir district in southern Helmand province, Mohammad Qayum Gorbaki, said the helicopter was flying to the scene of a suicide bombing in his area when it crashed late Thursday because of bad weather, according to The Associated Press.
