LA soldier returned home with procession after deadly Black Hawk crash in Kentucky

By Web staff

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    LOS ANGELES (KABC) — The body of a soldier killed in a Black Hawk helicopter crash in Kentucky returned to Los Angeles with a procession from LAX to Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills on Monday, where he will be laid to rest.

Sgt. Isaac John Gayo, of the 101st Airborne Division, was one of nine soldiers who died in a helicopter accident near Fort Campbell last month.

The 27-year-old was born in the Philippines and enlisted in the U.S. Army from L.A. in 2019. He attended basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and then took advanced individual training at Fort Eustis, Virginia, according to the Army.

His awards and decorations include the U.S. Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal and the Overseas Service Ribbon. He had been studying to get into flight school, and learned about a week before the accident that he got in.

Gayo’s procession was escorted by law enforcement through the city, with firemen at one point stopping to salute him on the bridge above.

Here are the other eight service members who died in the accident:

– Warrant Officer 1 Jeffery Barnes, 33, of Milton, Florida

– Cpl. Emilie Marie Eve Bolanos, 23, of Austin, Texas

– Chief Warrant Officer 2 Zachary Esparza, 36, of Jackson, Missouri

– Staff Sgt. Joshua C. Gore, 25, of Morehead City, North Carolina

– Warrant Officer 1 Aaron Healy, 32, of Cape Coral, Florida

– Staff Sgt. Taylor Mitchell, 30, of Mountain Brook, Alabama

– Chief Warrant Officer 2 Rusten Smith, 32, of Rolla, Missouri

– Sgt. David Solinas Jr, 23, of Oradell, New Jersey

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