Body of Kailua Air Force pilot killed in Afghanistan returned to U.S.
An Air Force carry team, carries the transfer case containing the remains of Air Force Capt. Reid K. Nishizuka of Kailua, Hawaii, upon arrival at Dover Air Force Base, Del. on Tuesday, April, 30, 2013. The Department of Defense announced the death of Nishizuka who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Senior Airman Zachary S. Szczypinski closes the door of the transfer vehicle containing the remains of Air Force Staff Sgt. Richard A. Dickson of Rancho Cordova, Calif., Air Force Capt. Brandon L. Cyr of Woodbridge, Va., Air Force Capt. Reid K. Nishizuka of Kailua and Air Force Staff Sgt. Daniel N. Fannin of Morehead, Ky., upon arrival at Dover Air Force Base, Del. on Tuesday, April, 30, 2013. The Department of Defense announced the deaths of Dickson, Cyr, Nishizuka, and Fannin who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
An Air Force carry team, carries the transfer case containing the remains of Air Force Capt. Reid K. Nishizuka of Kailua, Hawaii, upon arrival at Dover Air Force Base, Del. on Tuesday, April, 30, 2013. The Department of Defense announced the death of Nishizuka who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
An Air Force carry team, carries the transfer case containing the remains of Air Force Capt. Reid K. Nishizuka of Kailua, Hawaii, upon arrival at Dover Air Force Base, Del. on Tuesday, April, 30, 2013. The Department of Defense announced the death of Nishizuka who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
The body of a Kailua Air Force pilot is back in the United States to be returned to Hawaii, where Capt. Reid Nishizuka grew up.
An arrival ceremony was held Tuesday at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for Nishizuka, 30, and three other crew members on a MC-12 aircraft that crashed in Afghanistan Saturday, killing all four airmen on board.
Capt. Chad Nishizuka, an Air Force weapons systems officer, is escorting his older brother home.
"Our whole time in the Air Force, we’ve been at war," Chad Nishizuka told the Star-Advertiser Sunday from Delaware. "Either he’d be leaving or I’d be leaving, and we’d always say, ‘Hey, we’ll meet up (afterward).’ … You get so used to it, and you don’t really think about it, but this is definitely a good reminder of the fact that we are still at war."
California’s governor ordered flags flown at half-staff over the state Capitol in Sacramento Tuesday for Nishizuka. Nishizuka was assigned to the 427th Reconnaissance Squadron, Beale Air Force Base in California.
Services for Nishizuka are pending.
