Virginia Air Guard's 203rd RED HORSE Squadron holds memorial service for Airmen lost in airplane crash 10 years ago
110304-Z-A3554-0023.JPG Photo By: Cotton Puryear

VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia - The Virginia Air National Guard's 203rd RED HORSE Squadron conducted a memorial service at the State Military Reservation March 3, 2011 to honor 18 unit members and three Florida Army Guard aviators who perished in a military transport crash 10 years ago. The 18 engineers and three Florida aviators from Detachment 1 of the 171st Aviation Battalion, were killed on March 3, 2001, as the 203rd members were returning home after completing a two-week, military construction project at Hurlburt Field, Fla. The C-23 Sherpa they were flying in crashed in a cotton field near Unadilla, Ga. The C-23 crash was the worst peacetime aviation disaster in the history of the National Guard, and the worst loss of life in the Virginia National Guard since World War II. The ceremony featured remarks from Maj. Gen. Daniel E. Long, Jr., the Adjutant General of Virginia, the Honorable Terrie L. Suit, Assistant to the Governor for Commonwealth Preparedness, Lt. Col. Peter Garner, current commander of the 203rd RED HORSE Squadron, and retired Col. Thomas J. Turlip, commander of the 203rd RED HORSE on March 3, 2001. During a roll call of the names of military personnel lost in the crash, a U. S. flag was planted at the base of each tree in the memorial garden representing the Airmen and Soldiers. (Photo by Cotton Puryear, Va. Department of Military Affairs) Read the full story at http://vko.va.ngb.army.mil/VirginiaGuard/news/mar2002/redhorsemem.html


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