Michigan honors soldier killed in Big Island crash
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Shelia Mayfield, left, and Felicia Betts watch as police, firefighters and Patriot Guard Riders escort the casket of Army Sgt. Terrence Hinton from the Gerald R. Ford International Airport to the Gellespie Funeral Home in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Tuesday. Hinton died in a vehicle crash during Army training in Hawaii on May 14. Mayfield is Hinton’s aunt. (Cory Morse /The Grand Rapids Press via AP)
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. >> Michigan’s governor is honoring a soldier who died when the military truck in which he was riding crashed during training in Hawaii.
Gov. Rick Snyder ordered U.S. and Michigan flags to be lowered to half-staff today on all state buildings and within the state Capitol complex in honor of 36-year-old U.S. Army Sgt. Terrence Hinton, who died May 14 on the Big Island.
Hinton was killed during military training when the tractor-trailer he was riding in crashed near the intersection of Route 190 and Daniel K. Inouye Highway.
Hawaii island police said the truck driven by a 20-year-old soldier went out of control on a turn, struck a guardrail and overturned into a culvert. The military tractor-trailer had been towing heavy equipment to a dock on the Big Island and no other vehicles were damaged in the incident, the Army said. Police opened a negligent homicide investigation and the Army also said it is investigating.
Hinton, from Grand Rapids, Michigan, was assigned to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division on Oahu. He enlisted in 2009 and served in Fort Campbell, Ky., before moving to Hawaii in 2016. He deployed to Afghanistan in 2010 and Kuwait in 2014 for a total of 21 months.
Gov. Snyder says in a statement that Hinton “dedicated his life to protecting our country and will be remembered for his bravery and sacrifice.”
A service in Hinton’s honor was held today in Grand Rapids.
