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Senior
Airman Benjamin White, 24, was Killed In Action on Wednesday, 09
June 2010, when insurgents shot down his helicopter. On that date,
two
HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters “Pedro 66” and “Pedro 67” flew into Helmand
Province to rescue a critically injured British Marine near Forward Operating
Base Jackson in the Sangin District, in southern Afghanistan. Upon arriving at
the scene, both helicopters came under intense enemy fire.
While Pedro 67 landed
to recover the wounded Royal Marine, Pedro 66 remained in the air and provided
fire support. Pedro 66 was hit by rocket propelled grenades which critically
damaged the helicopters tail rotor. Due to the damage that the aircraft had
received, it went into an uncontrollable spin and crashed away from the initial
landing zone. Of the seven on board
Pedro 66, Capt Joel Gentz (CRO), TSgt Michael Flores (PJ) , SrA Ben White (PJ),
Capt David Wisniewski (Pilot) and SSgt David Smith (Flight Engineer) were
killed.
 Pedro 67 immediately
flew to the crash site and deployed a 3-man PJ team. The PJs medically treated survivors, and
recovered the remains of deceased personnel. Royal Marines of the 40 Commando's
Charlie Company also rushed to rescue the survivors and secure the scene.
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Senior Airman Benjamin D. White was born on October 16, 1985, Died on
June 09, 2010 near Forward Operating Base Jackson, Afghanistan.
He was born in Erwin, Tennessee, grew up in Johnson City and was a 2004
graduate of Science Hill High School. He went on to attend East
Tennessee State University until enlisting in the Air Force in July of
2006.
Airman White was assigned to the 48th Rescue Squadron, Davis-Monthan Air
Force Base in Arizona. His unit was responsible for combat rescue and
casualty evacuation. He usually flew to the incident site is an HH-60
but he was also trained to parachute into danger zones to rescue the
wounded. He asked his family and friends back home to pray for our
troops, never letting on how dangerous a duty he had, he was always more
concerned about others.
Ben died in a helicopter crash. He was survived by his Fiancée, Ashley
L. Stanley; Father, Anthony Curtis White and wife, Jennifer Lynn;
Mother, Brenda A. Shelton-Logozo and husband, Frank; Brothers, Mark
Anthony, Zachary Luke and Anthony Evan White; Sister, Laura R. White;
and Grandparents, Curtis Buford White, Jan Daye and Steven McCarty.
Benjamin was buried in Mountain Home National Cemetery in Tennessee.
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