Nellis airman dies from wounds in June 9 crash in Afghanistan

An airman from Nellis Air Force Base died Friday from injuries suffered when his helicopter was shot down during a rescue mission last month in south­eastern Afghanistan.

Capt. David A. Wisniewski, 31, of Moville, Iowa, died at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

He was the fifth casualty of the June 9 crash of an HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter in Helmand province during an attempt to rescue wounded NATO soldiers.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation, Air Force officials said Saturday.

Last month, Lt. Col. Joseph T. Breasseale, a NATO spokesman, said the airmen died "after their helicopter was brought down by hostile fire."

At that time, the Taliban claimed responsibility, saying militants hit the rescue helicopter with two rockets.

A memorial service for Wisniewski, a helicopter pilot assigned to the 66th Rescue Squadron at Nellis, will be held at Nellis at a date that will be announced later, officials said.

Two other Nellis airmen were killed in the crash: 1st Lt. Joel C. Gentz, 25, of Grass Lake, Mich., and Staff Sgt. David C. Smith, 26, of Eight Mile, Ala.

Also killed were Tech Sgt. Michael P. Flores, 31, of San Antonio and Senior Airman Benjamin D. White, 24, of Erwin, Tenn. Both were assigned to the 48th Rescue Squadron at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona.

Two other airmen from the 66th Rescue Squadron were injured in the crash. Capt. Anthony Simone, a helicopter pilot, and Tech. Sgt. Christopher Aguilera, an aerial gunner, are recovering at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, according to Air Force officials.

Wisniewski’s death brings to 70 the number of U.S. military personnel with ties to Nevada who have died in the nation’s wars overseas since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

He was the fourth Nevada armed forces member killed in Afghanistan in less than a month.

Spc. Matthew R. Hennigan, 20, of Las Vegas, died Wednesday from machine-gun bullet wounds he suffered during a firefight in Tangi Valley, 40 miles south of Kabul.

According to the Army, Hennigan was a paratrooper assigned to the 173rd Special Troops Battalion, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, Bamberg, Germany.