The Department of Defense announced today the death of 14 soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died August 22, 2007, in Multaka, Iraq, of injuries suffered when their helicopter crashed.
 
Killed were the following soldiers assigned to the 4th Squadron, 6th U.S. Air Cavalry Regiment, Fort Lewis, Washington:
 
Captain Corry P. Tyler, 29, of Georgia.
 Chief Warrant Officer Paul J. Flynn, 28, of Whitsett, North Carolina
 Sergeant Matthew L. Tallman, 30, of Groveland, California
 Specialist Rickey L. Bell, 21, of Caruthersville, Missouri
 
Also killed were the following soldiers assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii:
 
Captain Derek A. Dobogai, 26, of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
  Staff Sergeant Jason L. Paton, 25, of Poway, Califprnia
 Sergeant Garrett I. McLead, 23, of Rockport, Texas
 Corporal Jeremy P. Bouffard, 21, of Middlefield, Massachusetts
 Corporal Phillip J. Brodnick, 25, of New Lenox, Illinois
 Corporal Joshua S. Harmon, 20, of Mentor, Ohio
 Corporal Nathan C. Hubbard, 21, of Clovis, California
 Specialist Michael A. Hook, 25, of Altoona, Pennsylvania
 Specialist Jessy G. Pollard, 22, of Springfield, Missouri
 Speialist Tyler R. Seideman, 20, of Lincoln, Arkansas
 
The cause of the incident is under investigation.
 
For more information related to the deaths of Tyler, Flynn, Tallman and Bell, the media may contact the Fort Lewis public affairs office at (253) 967-0152, (253) 967-0147 or after hours at (253) 967-0015 (ask for the Public Affairs Officer on call).
 
For more information related to the deaths of Dobogai, Paton, McLead, Bouffard, Brodnick, Harmon, Hubbard, Hook, Pollard and Seideman, the media may contact the U.S. Army Garrison, Hawaii public affairs office at (808) 656-3159 or (808) 656-3157.

Four Black Hawk helicopters skimmed overhead against the backdrop of a gray, cloudy sky. Below, more than 150 people brought together by tragedy and united in grief gathered yesterday to pay tribute to 14 soldiers honored at Arlington National Cemetery.

The soldiers were killed August 22, 2007, in a helicopter crash in Multaka, Iraq. Each had been buried separately. But 14 months after the accident, which was caused by mechanical failure, family and friends bundled together on a chilly October morning for a group tribute.

The mourners followed a horse-drawn caisson bearing a single flag-cloaked silver coffin up Bradley Drive. The coffin was carried to Section 60 of the cemetery and placed amid a bevy of red, white and blue flowers.

As part of the service, folded flags were given to parents and siblings, widows and a best friend. Each flag was touched for a moment to the coffin before being handed to the loved ones of the fallen soldiers.

The soldiers were between the ages of 20 and 30 years old. They hailed from 11 states, spanning from California to Massachusetts.

Captain Corry P. Tyler, 29, of Woodbine, Georgia, graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1999 and had deployed to Iraq in 2003 and 2006. Chief Warrant Officer 2 Paul J. Flynn, 28, of Whitsett, North Carolina, was a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter pilot with a decade of service.

The eldest soldier, Sergeant Matthew L. Tallman, 30, of Groveland, California, was a tall, easygoing man and a devoted father, family members told the Los Angeles Times.

The youngest soldiers were Corporal Joshua S. Harmon, of Mentor, Ohio, and Specialist Tyler R. Seideman, of Lincoln, Arkansas, both 20. Harmon, a medic, had married his wife, Kristin, 84 days before his death, she told the News-Herald in Ohio. Seideman, who loved to joke, was a generous person who would "give you the shirt off his back if you needed it," said his best friend, Jeremy Bolivear, at a memorial service honoring the soldier, according to the Morning News in Arkansas.

Specialist Rickey L. Bell, 21, of Caruthersville, Missouri, joined the military in 2005 after graduating from high school.

Tyler, Flynn, Tallman and Bell were assigned to the 4th Squadron, 6th U.S. Air Cavalry Regiment based at Fort Lewis, Washington.

Captain Derek A. Dobogai, 26, of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, was selfless, kind and too modest to boast about his accomplishments, his family said in a statement last year. "Therefore, we will honor him with quiet strength," relatives said.

Staff Sergeant Jason L. Paton, 25, of Poway, California, was to be married November 18, 2007, family members told the Los Angeles Times. He had deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq before, and his second deployment to Iraq was scheduled to end three weeks after the helicopter crash.

Sergeant Garrett I. McLead, 23, of Rockport, Texas, liked surfing, skateboarding and playing soccer. He enlisted shortly after his birthday in May 2002 because of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, according to the Rockport Pilot.

Corporal Jeremy P. Bouffard, 21, of Middlefield, Massachusetts, was a jokester and a loyal, dedicated man who loved his wife Amanda, son Caleb and the Boston Red Sox. Nearly 1,000 mourners attended his funeral last year, according to the Boston Globe.

Corporal Phillip J. Brodnick, 25, of New Lenox, Illinois, was "the life of the party," a friend wrote on the guest book of a Web site dedicated to his memory.

Corporal Nathan C. Hubbard, 21, of Clovis, California, was one of three brothers serving in Iraq. Marine Lance Corporal Jared Hubbard was killed in 2004, so Nathan and Jason Hubbard enlisted to honor their brother's sacrifice. Jason Hubbard was in the same platoon as Nathan and in a helicopter ordered to secure the crash site, according to CNN.

Specialist Michael A. Hook, 25, of Altoona, Pennsylvania, was excited to come home because his fiancee, Susan Fetterman, was pregnant, according to the Altoona Mirror. Mere weeks after the crash, she gave birth to their son, Mason.

Corporal Jessy G. Pollard, 22, of Springfield, Missouri, embraced and believed in what he was doing and would tell family members about jumping out of planes at night, they told the Associated Press.

Dobogai, Paton, McLead, Bouffard, Brodnick, Harmon, Hubbard, Hook, Pollard and Seideman were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division based at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

Yesterday's burial brought to 447 the number of Iraq war casualties buried, memorialized or inurned at Arlington National Cemetery.

The Rev. William Warnock, pastor of Woodbine United Methodist Church, said an Army chaplain went to the home of Tyler's mother, Jennifer Tyler, about noon Wednesday and told her that her son had been killed.

Pentagon officials said Thursday that the Black Hawk, one of two flying in a night operation, likely crashed because of mechanical failure rather than enemy fire.

Jennifer Tyler was devastated by the loss coming after the death of her husband, Terry Tyler, about a year ago, Warnock said.

"It's pretty sad," he said.

As an only son, Corry Tyler could have declined what was his third deployment to Iraq, but he went anyway, Warnock said.

Tyler, 29, graduated from Camden County High School in 1995 and left for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point that summer, said Jeffrey Pace, his classmate. The two men met in 1989 after Tyler's father retired from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources in Atlanta and moved his family to his native Woodbine.

"We've been best friends ever since. ... He loved his God, and he loved his family more than anything else," Pace said.

Tyler was with the 4th Squadron of the 6th Air Cavalry, Pace said. The squadron is based at Fort Lewis, Washington.

When his father died about a year ago, Tyler was in Iraq, Pace said.

"He got home, and he was strong for his mother," Pace said.

Asked if Tyler had always aspired to be in the Army, Pace said, "In my heart of hearts, I believe he did it because his daddy was in the military."

Pace said he learned of the crash of the Black Hawk after getting off work Wednesday morning at a Brunswick chemical plant, and that his worst fears were later confirmed.

"You always get a lump in your throat," he said of hearing such news. "You ask, 'Is it him? Is it him?' Something didn't feel right."

Tyler hoped to go to medical school and become an Army physician. He was to have heard soon if he had been accepted.

In addition to his mother and adopted brothers, Tyler is survived by his wife, Kathy, and three children in Washington state. Jennifer Tyler was to have left Thursday for Washington to be with her son's immediate family, Warnock said.

Funeral arrangements were incomplete Friday, but Tyler will be buried in Atlanta next to his father, whom he revered, Warnock said.

"His daddy and his mama were so proud, so proud," Warnock said.

Pace said he, too, is proud of his best friend and grateful for his service.

"He died giving me the right to stand on my front porch and to do whatever I want to do in this country," he said.

Captain Tyler graduated at the top of his class at Camden County High School in Georgia, then went on to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1999.

After the death of his father last year Captain Tyler was left as the sole male survivor in his family and, for that reason, was not required to return to Iraq. However, he volunteered for his third tour of duty and was scheduled to return to his home in Washington state in 2 months.

He is is survived by his wife Kathy, three small children, and his mother.

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