Nevada soldier dies in copter crash
Another soldier from Nevada has been killed in Afghanistan, the second Silver State-related casualty in a week, according to the Department of Defense.
Sgt. Josue E. Hernandez Chavez, 23, of Reno was one of seven soldiers killed Monday when a helicopter crashed in Darreh-ye Bum, Afghanistan, Pentagon officials said in a news release Thursday.
Army Pfc. Kimble A. Han, a 30-year-old former Cheyenne High School student from North Las Vegas, was killed in a roadside bomb attack Oct. 23. He had moved from the Las Vegas Valley to Lehi, Utah, about a year ago.
Chavez was on a MH-47 heavy lift helicopter with four other soldiers from the 3rd Battalion, 160th Special Operations Regiment from Hunter Army Airfield, Ga., and two from the 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group out of Fort Bragg, N.C.
The others killed were Chief Warrant Officer Michael P. Montgomery, 36, of Savannah, Ga.; Chief Warrant Officer Niall Lyongs, 40, of Spokane, Wash.; Staff Sgt. Shawn H. McNabb, 24, of Terrell, Texas; Sgt. Nikolas A. Mueller, 26, of Little Chute, Wis.; Sgt. 1st Class David E. Metzger, 32, of San Diego; and Staff Sgt. Keith R. Bishop, 28, of Medford, N.Y.
Chavez is the 66th military personnel with ties to Nevada who has died in the nation’s wars overseas since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.