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- The People Behind The Sacrifice
Army Sgt. Kenneth G. Ross
Died September 25, 2005 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom
24, of Peoria, Ariz.; assigned to the 7th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment, Giebelstadt, Germany, killed Sept. 25 when his CH-47Chinook helicopter crashed southwest of Deh Chopan, Afghanistan.
Arizona soldier remembered as a dedicated man
Associated Press
TUCSON, Ariz. — An Arizona soldier who was killed in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan wanted to make the Army his career and was remembered by his family and friends as a dedicated man.
Sgt. Kenneth G. Ross, 24, was among five service members killed during the weekend when their helicopter crashed southwest of Deh Chopan, 180 miles southwest of Kabul. Ross was assigned to the Army’s 7th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment.
“He believed in serving his country,” said Ross’ father, David C. Ross.
Gary Anderson, Ross’ best friend and an Army infantry veteran who served nine months in Afghanistan and 11 months in Iraq during his active duty stint, was a classmate of Ross’ at Marana’s Mountain View High School.
“You know, I heard this news of Ken and I broke down and cried hysterically,” said Anderson, now a firefighter for the Ak-Chin Indian Community in Maricopa.
“He loved everyone; everyone who came in contact with him loved him,” Anderson said. “He’d always help everyone out that he could.”
A 1999 graduate of Mountain View, Ross played drums in the marching band and orchestra, his father said.
Ross enlisted in the Army right after graduation.
“He just wanted to take part in history,” Anderson said.
At the time of his death, he was a helicopter mechanic — acting as a door gunner on his last mission, his father said.
Kenneth Ross also is survived by his mother, Mary Ross, 57, and his sister, Stephanie Ross, 30.
“I know his last thoughts were for everybody else and not for himself,” Anderson said. “I know he wanted to make sure everybody was safe and would go home.”
The crash of the Chinook helicopter is the third this year involving the large troop-carrying choppers, which have proved essential in battling a reinvigorated insurgency in remote, largely inaccessible parts of Afghanistan.