Memorial service honors Nellis airmen killed in Afghanistan

They are “four simple words that mean a lot,” Master Sgt. Kristopher Angone told the crowd of 1,000, mostly airmen from the 58th and 66th rescue squadrons. They packed the Thunderbirds hangar to mourn 1st Lt. Joel C. Gentz and Staff Sgt. David C. Smith.

Gentz, 25, a marathon runner from Grass Lake, Mich., was an honors ROTC aerospace engineering graduate from Purdue University who was offered pilot training but instead chose to be a combat rescue officer.

His commander compared him to a warrior made of forged steel.

“There was no beating Joel into shape. He showed up in shape,” said Lt. Col. Andrew Reisenweber. “He was also a warrior, this country’s sword and shield.”

Smith, a 26-year-old flight engineer from Eight Mile, Ala., was said by Angone to be an avid reader and a video game addict, a silent professional who held himself to high standards and “led with his actions, not his words.”

Gentz and Smith died June 9 while acting in the spirit of that four-word motto by trying to save some soldiers who had been wounded in Afghanistan’s volatile Helmand province.

Two others from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona — Staff Sgt. Michael P. Flores, 31, and Senior Airman Benjamin D. White, 24 — died in the same attack.

The pilot, co-pilot and aerial gunner, all from Nellis’ 66th Rescue Squadron, suffered critical injuries and were taken to a hospital in Germany to recover. Their names have not been released.

Standing in front of an HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter, like the one Gentz and Smith were in when it was shot down by rocket-propelled grenades, speaker after speaker lauded the men for their selfless courage, friendship, loyalty and love for their families and country.

“Joel always had a big smile on his face and he left an impression with everybody he met,” Senior Airman Josh Deganhardt said as he stood at a podium, trying to speak while he fought back tears.

“He led by example. He always tried to better himself so when the mission came, he’d be ready and best prepared. He took care of us and everybody in the squadron,” Deganhardt said. “He’d always take an extra minute to see how you were doing, to see how your family was, to see how the kids were.

“Joel loved his wife dearly. He was gone for a month and was constantly making sure that Kathryn was comfortable and had the right support around her.”

Angone said his friend Smith, known as Smitty, Stuntman, Cazzie and other nicknames was, in a word, “unique.”

“He was intelligent, funny, dependable, honest, humble, tough and most importantly, he was a constant,” Angone said. “He was a known value. He was a steady force in today’s chaotic environment.”

Angone said Smith epitomized the rescue motto.

“It’s easy to understand when you think about it,” he said. “There is no ‘you’ in the phrase, ‘That others may live.’ Dave understood that. He was keenly aware of the fact that he would risk his life for people he had never crossed paths with before. He knew the risks; he prepared himself to the fullest extent.”

Said Smith’s friend, Ryan Green: “After all, when a candle burns the brightest among all others it is impossible not to notice when it is extinguished just how dim the world becomes. … Cazzie is my hero.”

At the service attended by Gentz’s parents and his brother and sister, a folded flag was presented to his wife, Kathryn Gentz. He will be buried Thursday in Chelsea, Mich.

Another U.S. flag from Friday’s service will be presented to Smith’s family when he is buried Monday in Mobile, Ala.

Contact reporter Keith Rogers at krogers@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308.