Five U.S. Army soldiers stationed at the Fort Campbell military post died during a helicopter crash in the Mediterranean Sea over the weekend. The aircraft and soldiers were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.
According to the Department of Defense, the deceased soldiers have been identified as Stephen Dwyer, 38, of Tennessee; Shane Barnes, 34, of Hopkinsville; Tanner Grone, 26, of New Hampshire; Andrew Southard, 27, of Arizona, and Cade Wolfe, 24, of Minnesota. The soldiers were members of the aviation special operations forces at Fort Campbell.
According to a report from the DOD, the flight crew was conducting an aerial refueling exercise when the Blackhawk helicopter carrying the crew went down. The DOD said the crash was not a result of hostile fire. In a post on social media, Gov. Andy Beshear asked Kentuckians to pray for the friends and families of the soldiers as well as servicemen nationwide.
It’s the second tragedy this year involving multiple deaths of soldiers stationed at the military installation along the Kentucky-Tennessee border. In March, nine Ft. Campbell soldiers were killed during a training mission in Trigg County when two military helicopters crashed.
Lt. Gen. Jonathan Braga said each soldier had individual talents that would be missed deeply by the armed forces.
“We mourn the loss of these five incredible soldiers, each of them a national treasure,” Braga said. “They hail from rare patriotic families with deep military service ties that span multiple generations and formations.”
The fallen soldiers received high honors within the Army and saw multiple combat deployments during their service careers.
This story was updated to list Shane Barnes as a resident of Hopkinsville. He grew up in California but settled in Hopkinsville with his family after being stationed at Fort Campbell.
Jacob Martin is a Reporter at WKU Public Radio. He joined the newsroom from Kansas City, where he covered the city’s underserved communities and general assignments, reporting at NPR member station KCUR. A Louisville, Kentucky native, he spent seven years living in Brooklyn, New York before moving back to Kentucky. He is a graduate of the University of Louisville.
