POW-MIA  United States  United Kingdom  Denmark  Bulgaria  Poland  Spain  Ukraine  Italy  Thailand  Estonia  El Salvador  Netherlands  Slovakia  Latvia  Hungary  Australia  Kazakhstan  Fiji  Romania  Canada  South Korea
   The Iraq Page
 
Remembering Those who Lost Their Lives
in the Iraq War of 2003 - 2006
 
 
 Welcome to The Iraq Page Friday, August 29 2008 @ 05:24 PM EDT  
 Home  :  Contribute  :  Directory  :  Web Resources  :  List of War Dead  :  Printable List of Dead  :  About the Iraq Page  
Articles
Home
Operation Enduring Freedom
Individuals Missing (1)
Individuals US (4118)
Individuals GB (161)
Individuals Italy (32)
Individuals Spain (18)
Individuals Poland (17)
Individuals Ukraine (9)
Individuals Bulgaria (8)
Individuals Denmark (7)
Individuals El Salvador (5)
Individuals Australia (2)
Individuals Slovakia (2)
Individuals Netherland (2)
Individuals Latvia (2)
Individuals Estonia (2)
Individuals Romania (3)
Individuals Czech Republic (1)
Individuals South Korea (1)
Individuals Georgia (4)
Individuals Canada (1)
Individuals Fiji (1)
Individuals Kazakhstan (1)
Individuals Hungary (1)
Individuals Azerbaijan (1)
Individuals Thailand (1)
General News (359)
Site Index
Who's Online
Guest Users: 9
Ads
User Functions
:

:

Don't have an account yet? Sign up as a New User
Lost your password?

Richard Salter

    
Thursday, December 29 2005 @ 08:08 AM EST
Contributed by: tomw
Views: 1,717
Individuals USwww.chron.com -- Ever since Richard Salter received a VertiBird toy helicopter one Christmas, he was determined to one day fly a real helicopter.

His sister, Sara Ward, remembered that her brother and father wore out set after set of batteries playing with the air rescue helicopter that Christmas.



"He loved (flying), he absolutely loved it," Ward said. "He loved what he did and he loved his country with the same fierceness that he loved his family."

On the day after Christmas, Salter died doing what he loved.

Army Chief Warrant Officer Richard M. Salter, 44, died Monday in Baghdad when his Apache helicopter collided with another military aircraft and then crashed, according to the Department of Defense.

Also killed in the accident was Chief Warrant Officer Isaias E. Santos, 28, of Ancon, Panama.

Both men were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment, Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division at Fort Hood.
Salter was a career soldier who joined the Army after graduating from Texas A&M University in 1985. He was born Aug. 28, 1961, at Hermann Hospital and was a 1980 graduate of Cy-Fair High School.

Ward said her brother had just returned to Iraq for a second tour.

He had been home for about 18 months before being shipped out on Nov. 12.

During his first tour, he flew an air attack mission in support of ground troops from the 4th Infantry that captured Saddam Hussein.

Between tours, she said, her brother had just finished having his dream house built on four acres on the Lampasas River. Salter and his family had moved into the home in May.

Ward said her brother and his wife designed the home, which included a recently completed barbecue smoker. He had used the smoker twice, cooking his favorite food — barbecue brisket, Texas style.

She said he loved to fish and hunt and "probably knew everything about Texas you could imagine," including the history of the Alamo, which he could recite from memory.

He was funny," Ward said of her brother. "He was a great cook, always ready with a joke.

"When you were a friend, you became a member of his family."

Army Capt. Allen Hahn was one of those friends who became like a brother to Salter.

"Unmatched. He's a huge loss to Army aviation and the United States military," said Hahn, who is assigned to the 21st Cavalry Brigade Air Combat, which trains combat tactics to Apache pilots.

Salter trained Hahn to fly the Apache in 1999 and the two had been friends since.

"He was beyond reproach. His integrity was second to none," Hahn said. "He died doing what he loved."

When Salter was first assigned to Iraq, he sent Hahn a text message about having lunch with a fellow friend, Wesley Charles Fortenberry.

A few weeks later, Fortenberry's helicopter was shot down over Al Anbar province.

A few weeks ago, Hahn received another message from a fellow friend who said he was having lunch with Salter.

"We were closer than any blood brothers you had seen in your life," Hahn said.

Salter is survived by his wife, Janet; two sons, Jarrett Matthew, 15, and Lane Douglas, 7 months; two daughters, Christina Gabriel, 18, and Danielle Leigh, 6; his parents, Dougald Ladd Salter and Sara Jo Salter, of Cypress; and a sister, Sara Ward, of Cypress.
 
What's Related

Story Options

Trackback

Trackback URL for this entry: http://iraq.pigstye.net/trackback.php/SalterRichard

No trackback comments for this entry.
Richard Salter | 6 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Richard Salter
Authored by: anonymous on Saturday, December 31 2005 @ 12:19 PM EST
TO THE SALTER FAMILY FROM THE WAHL FAMILY. DEEPLY SADDEN BY THE NEWS OF RICHARD. OUR HERAT AND PRAYS ARE WITH HIM AND YOUR FAMILY. NO WAY IN DEALING WITH THIS HEARTACHE. HAVE TO TAKE IT ONE DAY AT A TIME. WE ALL DEAL WITH OIT VERY DIFFERENTLY. ALL I CAN TELL YOU. BE SUPPORTIVE AND VERY CARING WITH MUCH UNDERSTANDING. RICHARD IS WITH YOU. HE HAS NOT DID IN VAIN! RICHARD IS A HERO! RICHARD THANK YOU FOR BEING SO UNSELFISH. SERVING OUR COUNTRY RISKING YOUR LIFE DAY IN AND DAY OUR, IS APPRECIATED. AN MORE SO FOR BEING A MILITARY BROTHER TO OUR SON GREGORY. GREGORY KNEW YOU BEEN HIS BROTHER. FOR SERVING IN THE MILITARY YOUR SHAE A SPECIAL BOND. TO WATCH AND PROTECT OVER ONE ANOTHE. AN SADLY, NOT KNOWING EACH OTHER PERSONALLY. WELL, TODAY YOU ARE RE-UNITED NOT THE WAY WE ALL HAD HOPED. STILL YOUR TOGTEHER! MY TEARS ONLY STOP WITH EACH FALLEN SOLDIER LOST. TO SHED THOSE SAME VERY TEARS AS I DO FOR YOU RICHARD. I LOST A SON TRUE! AN YET, I LOST MANY SON'S AND DUGHTER'S; FOR YOUR ARE ALL IN MY HEART AND PRAYS. GOD BLESS! FATHER OF A SGT GREGORY L. WAHL US ARMY DRAGON SOLDIER KIA BALAD IRAQ 05-03-04.
Richard Salter
Authored by: anonymous on Saturday, December 31 2005 @ 08:20 PM EST
CWO Salter,
Sir, I would like to say thank you to you and your co-pilot for your service and sacrifice for our Country. And to your family, I wish to extend my deepest sympathy.

A grateful citizen
  • Richard Salter - Authored by: anonymous on Tuesday, January 03 2006 @ 03:11 PM EST
Richard Salter
Authored by: anonymous on Wednesday, January 04 2006 @ 10:38 PM EST
matt, I have always loved you. I knew you would do great things someday. Of course you never dissapoint. I will never look at the flag the same. I will never here our national anthem in the same way, I will never pledge my alegiance to this country the same way. Veterans day will not be just another day off. The precious memerories of you will and always have been burned in my heart forever.
Richard Salter
Authored by: anonymous on Monday, January 23 2006 @ 03:58 AM EST
Matt, you were a great friend. We served together in Korea just for a short time, but my memory for you will be the rest of my life.

Tony Vincent
CW4, U.S. Army, Retired
Richard Salter
Authored by: anonymous on Sunday, February 26 2006 @ 12:56 PM EST
My thoughts will always be with Matt and his family. I am with 3-3 ARB, and Matt was relieving me from my year long tour in Iraq. We met in the Longbow AQC in 2001, and we served together in Korea in 2002. I will be present at the A&M muster ceremony at Fort Rucker, and I have made arrangements to have Matt's name to be added to the Muster list, and I will answer here for him.

God speed Matt

CW2 Scott McCrosky '98
 Copyright © 2008 The Iraq Page
 All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners.		 Powered By Geeklog 
Created this page in 0.42 seconds