Terrible News
Apr. 11th, 2005 10:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xerox78I was reading my local newspaper online earlier this evening, when I found this story:
Two local soldiers killed or unaccounted for in Afghanistan crash
By STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS, Pilot Online
© April 11, 2005 | Last updated 8:05 PM Apr. 11
The Department of Defense today identified two local soldiers - from Chesapeake and Hertford, N.C. - as either killed or unaccounted for in last week's crash of a U.S. military helicopter in Afghanistan.
Identified as killed was Pfc. Pendelton L. Sykes, 25, of Chesapeake. Sykes was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment, 12th Aviation Brigade, based at Giebelstadt, Germany.
Identified as unaccounted for was Staff Sgt. Romanes L. Woodard, 30, of Hertford. Woodard is assigned to the 1st Battalion, 508th Infantry Regiment, based at Camp Ederle, Italy.
The Army in March, upon deployment, identified Woodard as a 1992 graduate of Perquimans County High School in Hertford, with 12 years of military service. His mother was identified as Brenda C. Woodard of Winfall, N.C.
The CH-47 Chinook crashed last Wednesday near Ghazni, 80 miles south of the Afghan capital, Kabul. The crash was labeled the deadliest for Americans since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
The Department of Defense today confirmed the deaths of eight soldiers, including Sykes; and identified six others, including Woodard, as unaccounted for.
Investigators dispatched from the United States were heading to the crash site over the weekend to examine whether bad weather was to blame.
The helicopter crashed as it returned to Bagram from a mission to deliver mail and supplies and transport personnel in the insurgency-plagued south. The charred wreckage was found in an area of desert near a cluster of brick kilns.
Officials reported no sign of enemy fire and suggested bad visibility and strong winds may have caused a fatal pilot error or technical problem. A second Chinook made it safely back.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
.
Pendleton Sykes, or as he was better known by his middle name, Lidell, was one of my classmates. I'd known him since second grade. We didn't hang out in the same circles enough to truly be friends, especially in high school, but I was pretty acquainted with him. All I can do is shake my head and pray for his family.
RIP Pendleton Lidell Sykes.
Two local soldiers killed or unaccounted for in Afghanistan crash
By STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS, Pilot Online
© April 11, 2005 | Last updated 8:05 PM Apr. 11
The Department of Defense today identified two local soldiers - from Chesapeake and Hertford, N.C. - as either killed or unaccounted for in last week's crash of a U.S. military helicopter in Afghanistan.
Identified as killed was Pfc. Pendelton L. Sykes, 25, of Chesapeake. Sykes was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment, 12th Aviation Brigade, based at Giebelstadt, Germany.
Identified as unaccounted for was Staff Sgt. Romanes L. Woodard, 30, of Hertford. Woodard is assigned to the 1st Battalion, 508th Infantry Regiment, based at Camp Ederle, Italy.
The Army in March, upon deployment, identified Woodard as a 1992 graduate of Perquimans County High School in Hertford, with 12 years of military service. His mother was identified as Brenda C. Woodard of Winfall, N.C.
The CH-47 Chinook crashed last Wednesday near Ghazni, 80 miles south of the Afghan capital, Kabul. The crash was labeled the deadliest for Americans since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.
The Department of Defense today confirmed the deaths of eight soldiers, including Sykes; and identified six others, including Woodard, as unaccounted for.
Investigators dispatched from the United States were heading to the crash site over the weekend to examine whether bad weather was to blame.
The helicopter crashed as it returned to Bagram from a mission to deliver mail and supplies and transport personnel in the insurgency-plagued south. The charred wreckage was found in an area of desert near a cluster of brick kilns.
Officials reported no sign of enemy fire and suggested bad visibility and strong winds may have caused a fatal pilot error or technical problem. A second Chinook made it safely back.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
.
Pendleton Sykes, or as he was better known by his middle name, Lidell, was one of my classmates. I'd known him since second grade. We didn't hang out in the same circles enough to truly be friends, especially in high school, but I was pretty acquainted with him. All I can do is shake my head and pray for his family.
RIP Pendleton Lidell Sykes.
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Date: 2005-04-12 10:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-04-12 06:28 pm (UTC)<3333333333333333333333333333333333333333