Photo: Facebook
“The accident occurred at approximately 10 p.m. when the two helicopters were conducting a planned training exercise in and around the local Fort Campbell training area,” arelease from the 101st Airborne Divisionsaid Thursday.
“The Army has deployed an aviation safety team from Fort Rucker, Ala., to conduct a thorough investigation into the accident,” the statement added.
While the Army did not immediately release the identity of the nine victims killed in the crash, Pastor Tim Gore of Fremont Missionary Baptist Church in North Carolina shared on Facebook that one of the passengers was his son, Caleb Gore.
“My precious son Caleb was killed in a tragic helicopter accident last night. He was the light of my world, and I haveno words to express my grief right now,” wrote Tim. “My words are my tears right now. Please pray for us all.”
Tim told WRAL thatCaleb’s wife Haleigh is pregnantwith their first child.
“They just found out yesterday it was a boy,” he said, sharing that she is currently about three weeks pregnant. “She was my son’s childhood love, so the grief of the moment stretches pretty deep right now.” Tim also remembered his son as a “hero.”
“Not just in the sense that he was in the army but just who he was as a person,” he said. “He was a tank. He was literally a tank. If Captain America walked in the door, that’s exactly what I would think he would look like.”
RELATED VIDEO: 9 People Are Dead After 2 U.S. Army Blackhawk Helicopters Crash in Kentucky
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Brigadier General John Lubas, the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) deputy commanding general for operations, shared in Thursday’s press release that the division’s “number onepriority is caring for the familiesand the soldiers within our combat aviation brigade.”
“This is a truly tragic loss for these families, our Division, and Fort Campbell,” he added.
source: people.com
