Jesse M. Samek
Profile
Age: 21
From: Rogers, Ark.
Assigned to the 66th Rescue Squadron, Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.
Incident: Air Force Airman 1st Class Jesse M. Samek died Oct. 21 from injuries he received when an Air Force HH-60 helicopter aircraft crashed during a medical evacuation mission in Afghanistan.
Died: October 21, 2004
Arkansas airman dies in Afghanistan helicopter crash
Associated Press
ROGERS, Ark. — An airman from Rogers who worked on a rescue helicopter died in Afghanistan when his aircraft went down, the Air Force said Friday.
Airman 1st Class Jesse Monroe Samek, 21, died Thursday, a day after his helicopter crashed during a medical evacuation, Capt. Maureen Schumann said.
A statement issued by Samek’s family in Rogers said he’d moved to northwest Arkansas in 1997 from O’Fallon, Mo., near St. Louis. He graduated from Rogers High School in 2001 and attended the University of Arkansas for a year before deciding to join the Air Force.
“He was a great outdoorsman,” the family statement said. “He loved camping, hiking, hunting, fishing and snow- and waterskiing. He played recreational hockey as a goalie.”
Military officials said technical problems brought down the HH-60 helicopter, which was carrying a wounded Afghan...