Victims Identified

Seven 4th Infantry Division soldiers, including the assistant division commander for support, were killed Nov. 29 when their UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed while flying from Fort Hood, Texas, to check on progress in repairing vehicles damaged in Iraq.

Fort Hood officials said the crash occurred about 7 a.m. when the helicopter collided with a portion of a television transmission tower about 15 miles north of Temple, Texas, killing all aboard. An accident investigation team from the US Army Safety Center at Fort Rucker, AL, will conduct a formal investigation of the accident.

Acting public affairs officer Jim Wittmeyer said the soldiers were en route to Red River Army Depot, near Texarkana, Texas, where their unit's Humvees and other vehicles were being repaired and readied for their upcoming deployment to Iraq, expected in midsummer.

The 4th Infantry Division returned this spring to its Fort Hood headquarters from Iraq, where it served as the cornerstone of Task Force Ironhorse. The division played a key role in the capture of Saddam Hussein in December 2003, but lost 80 soldiers and one civilian during its yearlong deployment from March 2003 to March 2004.

At least three of the soldiers killed were veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Wittmeyer said.

Fort Hood officials today released the names of the seven soldiers killed. They are:

• 
  Brig. Gen. Charles B. Allen, 49, assistant division commander for support. Allen, who was born in Alaska and listed his home of record as Oklahoma, entered the Army in May 1977 and received his initial training as a field artillery officer.
• Col. James M. Moore, 47, commander of the Division Support Command. A native of Peabody, MA, he entered the Army in September 1980.
• Capt. Todd. T. Christmas, 26, an air defense artillery officer assigned to the division's Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Special Troops Battalion. A native of New Mexico, he entered the Army in August 2001.
• Chief Warrant Officer 5 Douglas V. Clapp, 48, a senior division automotive maintenance officer. Clapp, who was born in Lebanon, PA, and listed his home of record as Greensboro, NC, entered the Army in August 1974.
• Chief Warrant Officer 2 David H. Gardner Jr., 32, a helicopter pilot assigned to the division's A Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment. Gardner, who was born in Germany and listed Iowa as his home of record, entered the Army in October 1992. Gardner served in Iraq from October 2003 to April 2004.
• Chief Warrant Officer 2 Mark W. Evans Jr., 27, a helicopter pilot assigned to A Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment. Evans, who was born in Michigan and listed his home of record as Florida, entered the Army in November 1995. Evans served in Iraq from November 2003 to April 2004.
• Spc. Richard L. Brown, 29, a helicopter mechanic assigned to the division's Headquarters and Headquarters Company. Brown was born in Kansas and listed Stonewall, LA, as his home of record. Brown served in Iraq from March 2003 to March 2004

(ANN salutes Donna Miles at the American Forces Press Service)

FMI: www.hood.army.mil/4id