12AUG05 AH-64 Iraq w/Photo

[Admin]

Two U.S. Troops Hurt in Helicopter Crash

A U.S. Apache helicopter crashed in northern Iraq, injuring two U.S. forces, and a roadside bomb killed an American soldier in the central city of Tikrit, the military said.

The two U.S. service members injured in the helicopter crash were being evacuated in the area of Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad, said Staff Sgt. Duane Brown, a spokesman for the 42nd Infantry Division. He said the helicopter crash was under investigation.



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Will update as more becomes available.

[timidmonster]

I think this was KYNG 8/229th from Fort Knox.

[Admin]

Western Kentucky soldier wounded in Iraq

Associated Press

OWENSBORO, Ky. - An Army helicopter pilot from Daviess County had his left foot amputated after being injured in a helicopter crash in Iraq last week.

1st Lt. Clay Taylor, 25, is expected to be flown from a U.S. military hospital in Germany to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., his family said.

Army surgeons in Iraq tried to reconstruct his left heel, which was cut off by a piece of metal in the crash, said his mother, Mary "Spanky" Taylor. The surgeons saw there was no blood flow going to the heel, so they had to amputate, she said.

The helicopter went down last Friday in a muddy area, which likely saved Taylor's life, said Bob Steele, Mary Taylor's boyfriend.

"He was embedded in the mud," said Steele, who took the Army's call about the crash. "They said that helped clot the blood."

The crash occurred near Dogmat, a village about 45 miles south of Kirkuk in northern Iraq. The cause is unknown, but the Army "is leaning toward mechanical problems," Mary Taylor said.

The pilot was able to walk away, Steele said.

Taylor, a member of the 229th Aviation Regiment, was home on leave June 24 to July 6. "He wanted to go back and get his time done, but he wasn't real happy about going back," Steele said.

Taylor was a former all-district soccer player at Owensboro Catholic High School. He went to Georgetown College on a soccer scholarship and later went to the University of Kentucky. He graduated from Eastern Kentucky University in 2001 with a bachelor's degree in security management.

[LT Mac]

Clay was my stick buddy in AQC. I hope this doesn't end his flying days, but it doesn't sound good by the article.

[Admin]

The other pilot's name is Chief Warrant Officer Daniel Heggie. He sustained no major injury.