AURORA, Colo.—A Colorado National Guard pilot killed in Afghanistan was remembered Friday as a loving family man and a skilled aviator who was so determined to fly that at age 10 he jumped off the roof while flapping homemade wings.
Hundreds of people gathered at Eastern Hills Community Church in the Denver suburb of Aurora to remember the life and death of David R. Carter, who was among 38 people killed when a Chinook helicopter crashed on Aug. 6. The Defense Department says it was apparently hit by an insurgent’s rocket-propelled grenade.
Carter was one of two pilots on the flight. The dead included 30 Americans, making it the single deadliest loss for U.S. forces in the nearly decade-long war. An investigation is under way.
Carter, 47, was a chief warrant officer 4 and a full-time National Guard instructor pilot. His home station was the Army Aviation Support Facility at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora.
Pastor Shawn Sikkeman related Carter’s early attempt to fly, reading from an account written by Carter’s mother, Elsie Carter, who sat with other family members near the front of the church auditorium.
She didn’t say if he was hurt. She closed her story with, “I love you, son. Fly with the angels.”
Carter’s wife, Lauren, and children, Kyle and Kaitlen, described his love, affection and encouragement as a husband and father.
“I’m so very grateful for having him for the time that I have,” Kaitlen said.
Gov. John Hickenlooper and Maj. Gen. Michael Edwards, adjutant general of the Colorado National Guard, attended. Hickenlooper spoke, praising Carter’s commitment.
“The deaths of David and 29 other American servicemen is a tragic reminder that that commitment, that last full measure, can lead to death,” Hickenlooper said.
Six Army pallbearers in dress blue uniforms carried Carter’s flag-covered casket into the church and then carried it out to a waiting hearse when the service was over. The procession then drove north to Fort Collins for the burial.
Electronic signboards along the route flashed the message, “Today we honor CW4 Dave Carter.”
A horse-drawn hearse carried Carter’s casket into Grandview Cemetery. As the graveside service ended, a Chinook helicopter flew overhead in tribute, the Fort Collins Coloradoan reported.
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