Mourners recall fallen Nellis rescue ‘warriors’

Friday, Sept. 11, 1998 | 10:41 a.m.

The back page of the memorial service program for the 12 Nellis Air Force Base airmen killed last Friday during helicopter training exercises features a poem that reads in part:

"I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace/ Where never lark or even eagle flew./ And while with silent lifting mind I've trod/ The high untrespassed sanctity of space/ Put out my hand and touched the face of God."

It was a haunting reminder that sometimes young military men fall from the wild blue yonder, crash to Earth and come in touch with the Almighty much sooner than any of them, their families and friends ever dared to fear.

At Thursday's memorial service in the Thunderbirds hangar at Nellis, the 12 members of the elite 66th Rescue Squadron were eulogized as "warriors" who also were sons, husbands, fathers and heroes who gave the supreme sacrifice for their country.

"The military always involves risks," Lt. Col. Dennis Aleson, Nellis' senior Protestant chaplain, told several hundred mourners during his closing prayer.

Noting that the job in search and rescue involves more risk than most others, he said the men who died, "risked their lives for others beyond their family circle ... even (for) a total stranger."

In addition to military rescues in places like the Persian Gulf, the 66th Rescue Squadron, one of only two such units in the United States, has assisted local authorities in more than 20 civilian rescues in the past five years.

However, it has not been made clear whether any of the men who were killed were involved in any of those rescues or if they had served in the Middle East.

Although Nellis officers who spoke at the services mentioned the names of the dead several times, base officials have not released any specifics about them.

Their ages and hometowns have not been divulged and it wasn't until Thursday that their military photos were released to the media.

Lt. Col. Dave Summers, commander of the 66th Rescue Squadron, choked back tears as he talked in general about his men, but he said nothing specific about any of them in his brief eulogy during the hour-long ceremony.

"They grew to be honorable men," he said, noting that even though their lives were cut short they made "exceptional achievements in this world."

Summers said he recalled "the sparkle in their eyes" when some of them talked about their children.

The speakers stood on a podium in front of a huge American flag. In front of them were 12 wreaths, each featuring a photo of a victim. Members of the 66th Rescue Squadron pinned on each wreath the squadron's flying scarf.

The six men killed on one of the HH-60G Pavehawk helicopters were: Capt. Gregg Lewis, pilot; Capt. Phillip Miller, co-pilot; Staff Sgt. Kevin Brunelle, flight engineer; Staff Sgt. Kenneth Eaglin, flight engineer; Senior Airman Jesse Stewart, para-rescueman; and Master Sgt. Matthew Sturtevant, gunner.

Those killed on the second helicopter were: Lt. Col. William "Hal" Milton, pilot; Capt. Karl Youngblood, pilot; Tech. Sgt. Jeffrey Armour, flight engineer; Senior Airman Adam Stewart, flight engineer; Airman 1st Class Justin Wotasik, para-rescueman; and 2nd Lt. Michael Harwell, mission essential ground personnel.

The cause of the crash of the two helicopters 25 miles north of Indian Springs is yet to be determined.