Army Spc. Steven R. Jewell

Died August 14, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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26, of Bridgeton, N.C.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 52nd Aviation Regiment, Task Force 49, Fort Wainwright, Alaska; died Aug. 14 in Taqaddum, Iraq, of injuries sustained in a helicopter crash. Also killed were Chief Warrant Officer Christopher C. Johnson, Chief Warrant Officer Jackie L. McFarlane, Staff Sgt. Sean P. Fisher and Staff Sgt. Stanley B. Reynolds.

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North Carolina man killed in Iraq crash

The Associated Press

FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska — A soldier from North Carolina was among five killed when the group's helicopter crashed during a routine post-maintenance test flight in Iraq, the military said Thursday.

Spc. Steven R. Jewell, 26, of Bridgeton, N.C., died when the CH-47 Chinook helicopter crashed near Anbar province on Tuesday, the Department of Defense said.

The Defense Department identified the others as Chief Warrant Officer Christopher C. Johnson, 31, of Michigan; Chief Warrant Officer Jackie L. McFarlane Jr., 30, Virginia Beach, Va.; Staff Sgt. Sean P. Fisher, 29, of Santee, Calif.; and Staff Sgt. Stanley B. Reynolds, 37, of Rock, W.Va.

They were part of the 1st Battalion, 52nd Aviation Regiment, Task Force 49, based in Fort Wainwright, Alaska.

The incident remains under investigation.

Jewell's father, Billy Jewell, said his son had been in Iraq for one month.

“He was planning to make the Army a career,” his father said in a written statement to the Sun Journal of New Bern, N.C. “There is not a way to reason out why he died but to say that it was in God's plan but I know he was doing what he thought was right and his duty to do.”

Steven Jewell joined the Army in late 2004. He enjoyed hunting, fishing and spending time with his family, Billy Jewell said. He also loved his country, his father said.

“Before he left, Steven told me many times to make sure if something happened they all knew that he was aware of what could happen and he accepted that fact,” he told the newspaper.