Army Spc. Spencer C. Duncan

Died August 6, 2011 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom

---

21, of Olathe, Kan.; assigned to 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment (General Support Aviation Battalion), U.S. Army Reserve, New Century, Kan.; died Aug. 6 at COP Sayed Abad, Wardak province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when the CH-47 Chinook helicopter in which he was riding was shot down.

---

Door gunner loved job but missed Kansas

The Associated Press

A 21-year-old Kansas soldier was among 30 U.S. troops killed when a helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan and one of three troops killed from the same Army reserve unit — Bravo Company, 7th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment, based at New Century AirCenter in Gardner, Kan.

Spc. Spencer C. Duncan of Olathe was serving as a door gunner on the CH-47 helicopter that was hit by rocket fire Aug. 6, according to Chief Warrant Officer Michael Walsh.

Duncan, who graduated from Olathe South High School, had written to friends about how much he loved working as a door gunner on a Chinook helicopter. But The Kansas City Star reported that he also told friends that he missed Kansas sunsets and lying in a truck bed listening to the radio and cuddling with his sweetie.

Duncan joined the military in 2008 and had been in Afghanistan since late May. He was stationed at Forward Operating Base Shank.