Times Herald (Port Huron, MI) November 27, 2003
Afghan copter crash claims local airman
By Angela Mullins
A 33-year-old Port Huron man is the second local serviceman to die overseas this month.
Air Force Tech. Sgt. Howard A. Walters was killed Sunday when his helicopter crashed near the main coalition airbase in Afghanistan.
The military on Monday said engine failure may have downed the MH-53M Pave Low transport helicopter from the 20th Special Operations Squadron. Five airmen were killed and eight wounded.
The Pentagon identified the dead airmen on Wednesday. Walters' family could not be reached for comment.
The chopper crashed about 7 miles east of Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul.
An aerial helicopter gunner, Walters had been stationed at Eglin Air Force Base's Hurlburt Field in Florida since April 2001. His squadron, nicknamed the Green Hornets, is part of the 16th Special Operations Wing.
Capt. Tom Knowles, wing spokesman, said Walters joined the Air Force in 1988 and was previously stationed in Albuquerque, N.M. He would not say how long Walters had been in Afghanistan.
Speaking on behalf of Walters' family, family friend Shari Waplemburg of Port Huron said the soldier's wife, Melissa, and four daughters - Kalie, Breanna, Samantha and Grace - live in Florida.
Walters' mother, Patricia Riedel, lives in Port Huron. His father, James Walters, lives in Manton.
The accident, which remains under investigation, happened shortly after the helicopter left the air base to support Operation Mountain Resolve, a coalition offensive launched Nov. 7 in mountainous northeastern Afghanistan.
"It's still under investigation and anyone saying otherwise is just speculating," Knowles said.
A private memorial service is planned at Hurlburt Field.
Army Staff Sgt. Mark D. Vasquez, who died Nov. 8, was the first local serviceman to die overseas since the Afghan and Iraq wars began. Vazquez died when his armored vehicle was hit by an "improvised explosive device" while on patrol in Fallujah, Iraq, about 40 miles west of Baghdad.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A CLOSER LOOK
FATAL CHOPPER CRASH
MH-53M 'PAVE LOW': A highly sophisticated Special Forces variant of the Navy's 50,000-pound transport helicopter. Can transport up to 37 troops. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Howard A. Walters of Port Huron died Nov. 23 when his Pave Low crashed in Afghanistan.
GREEN HORNETS: Nickname of the 20th Special Operations Squadron (SOS), Walters' unit. Formed in 1956, the unit later went to Vietnam, where is began its unconventional warfare and special operations role. The unit was deactivated from 1972 to 1976. The primary mission of the 20th SOS is day or night low-level penetration into hostile enemy territory, to accomplish clandestine infiltration and exfiltration, aerial gunnery support and resupply of special operations forces.
OPERATION MOUNTAIN RESOLVE: An ongoing operation launched Nov. 7, primarily by the Army's 10th Mountain Division, to attack rebels in Afghanistan's northeast Nuristan province near the Pakistan border. The 20th SOS participated in the operation.
BAGRAM: Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, is home to most of the 11,600 coalition forces in Afghanistan. It's the main coalition base in the county Walters' unit was operating from Bagram, and his chopper crashed 10 miles northeast of the base, on the Shomali Plain.
AFGHANISTAN: A south-central Asian nation of 28.7 million people. At 401,000 square miles, Afghanistan is slightly smaller than Texas. Eastern and southern Afghanistan have become hotbeds of attacks by pro-Taliban and pro-al-Qaida militants targeting coalition forces, U.N. workers and relief agencies. About 35 Americans have died from hostile fire in Afghanistan since the October 2001 start of the Afghan war, according to the U.S. military.
SOURCE: www.globalsecurity.org, Associated Press, CIA World Factbook
ONLINE
MILITARY WEB SITES
20th SPECIAL OPERATIONS SQUADRON: www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/usaf/20sos.htm
HURLBURT FIELD: www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/hurlburt.htm
PENTAGON: www.defenselink.org
GRAPHIC: Tech Sgt. Howard A. Walters; PORT HURON VICTIM: Military officials on Wednesday identified Tech. Sgt. Howard A. Walters as one of five airmen killed Sunday when a helicopter crashed near U.S. military headquarters north of Kabul, Afghanistan. The Associated Press
© Copyright 2003, Times Herald (Port Huron, MI)
