Family Mourns National Guardsman Killed in Iraq Helicopter Crash

NEW YORK — Days before her grandson was deployed to Iraq for a transport mission, Gloria Smith treated him to dinner at his favorite hibachi restaurant on Long Island.

It was not Staff Sgt. Dashan Briggs’ first deployment, but each tour brought a familiar sense of worry, Smith said. That night, she warned him: “Be vigilant. Be careful. And do what you have to do.”

“'Don’t worry, Grandma,'” she recalled him saying.

Briggs, 30, of the New York Air National Guard 106th Rescue Wing, was one of seven service members killed when a U.S. military helicopter crashed near al-Qaim on Thursday. Four of the dead, including Briggs and Capt. Andreas O’Keeffe, a 37-year-old pilot, were part of the New York unit based in Westhampton Beach, Long Island. Two were New York City firefighters. The cause of the crash is under investigation, though enemy fire was not suspected, according to the Department of Defense.

“All four of these heroes served their nation and community,” Col. Michael Bank, commander of the 106th Rescue Wing, said in a statement Saturday. “Our sincerest condolences and sympathies to the families and friends that have been touched by this tragic event.”

Maj. Gen. Anthony German, the adjutant general of New York, said, “This loss reminds us of the tremendous risks we take in serving our nation every day.”

Briggs joined the National Guard when he was 22, said Smith, his maternal grandmother. He grew up in Riverhead, a small town on the North Shore of Long Island, where he was raised by his paternal grandparents. He played football in high school and received a scholarship to Morrisville State College. Three years ago, his grandmother said, he bought a house in Port Jefferson Station. He is survived by his wife, Rebecca, and two children, a 1-year-old daughter and a 2-year-old son.

“He loved being a dad,” Smith said of her grandson. “He took care of his wife and kids and nothing else mattered.”

O’Keeffe, of Center Moriches, Long Island, was an HH-60G Pave Hawk pilot. He worked as a federal civilian employee. As a guardsman, he was stationed at the 101st Rescue Squadron before joining the 106th Rescue Wing in 2013. He had also served as an armament systems specialist with the 113th Wing with the District of Columbia Air National Guard, and as an RC-26 pilot with the 174th Attack Wing with the Hancock Field Air National Guard Base in Syracuse.

O’Keeffe had been deployed to Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa and Iraq. He also was sent to Texas after Hurricane Harvey. Efforts to reach his relatives Sunday were unsuccessful.

Also killed were Capt. Mark K. Weber, 29, of Colorado Springs, Colorado; Master Sgt. William R. Posch, 36, of Indialantic, Florida; and Staff Sgt. Carl P. Enis, 31, of Tallahassee, Florida.

“He loved his job, he loved serving our country,” Smith said of her grandson. “Anything can happen at any time. But I was happy for him because he was happy.”

Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered flags on all state government buildings flown at half-staff Monday in honor of Briggs, O’Keeffe and the New York City firefighters, Lt. Christopher J. Raguso and Christopher Tripp Zanetis.

Ahmed al-Mahilawi, the mayor of al-Qaim, said residents living near the crash site saw the HH-60 Pave Hawk go down shortly after takeoff. A preliminary investigation indicated that the helicopter may have had a technical malfunction before it crashed.

The aircraft used is typically flown by the U.S. Air Force for search-and-rescue missions and medical evacuations, and is a modified version of the army’s Black Hawk helicopter. The 106th Rescue Wing was operating in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, a coalition that focuses on combating the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria.