Air Force pilot killed in Nevada mourned in N.D.

WEST FARGO, N.D. — Friends and acquaintances of an Air Force pilot who died in a jet crash while training in Nevada last month gathered on a North Dakota football field to remember him.

People who attended the Thursday night ceremony at the West Fargo High School field sent about 40 memorial paper lanterns floating into the sky in memory of 30-year-old Capt. Eric Ziegler, a native of the city.

Ziegler was president of his 1999 class and helped the school’s football team win a state championship that year. Teammate Brent Tehven told The Forum newspaper that Ziegler was active in various school activities. Former coach Brent Lundgren said Ziegler “was the kind of guy you want your daughters to marry.”

Ziegler’s funeral was held Friday in nearby Moorhead, Minn.

A private service was held Tuesday at Nellis Air Force Base, where Ziegler was attending the elite weapons school when he crashed June 28 during a training dogfight.

A graduate of the Air Force Academy, Ziegler was an experienced test pilot who had flown more than 300 combat hours during three deployments.

He is survived by his wife, Sarah, a former Air Force maintenance officer, and 9-month-old daughter, Anna.