Friday, March 15, 2013

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) -- From Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah to Kandahar Province in Afghanistan, troops are grieving after a helicopter crash in Afghanistan killed five fellow soldiers based in southeast Georgia.

In Afghanistan, 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade soldiers held a memorial service Friday for the Black Hawk helicopter crew. Maj. Gen. Robert A. Abrams, the soldiers' commanding general, said on Twitter they were "America's finest who made everyone around them better."

The helicopter crashed Monday during what Army officials say was a routine training mission using night-vision goggles.

The soldiers' names have not been released. The mother of the helicopter's crew chief, Staff Sgt. Marc Scialdo of Naples, Fla., confirms her son died in the crash.

Susan Scialdo says she called her son "the Golden Boy" because he made their family shine.

(Copyright 2013, The Associated Press)