KELSEYVILLE — The family of U.S. Army Sgt. Richard Allen Essex, who died in Afghanistan last week, requests the community”s support to honor and celebrate his life Sept. 1 at Kelseyville High School football field.
The memorial service begins at 11 a.m. The gates open at 8 a.m. to fire, law enforcement and military personnel for vehicle staging. The gates open to the public at 10 a.m.
Essex, a 2008 Kelseyville High School graduate, died along with 10 others when the Black Hawk helicopter they were riding in crashed around 10 a.m. Aug. 16. He was 23 years old.
Essex was one of seven U.S. soldiers killed onboard. Three Afghan soldiers and an interpreter was also killed.
It crashed in a Taliban-controlled area in the northern part of Kandahard Province known as Shah Wali Kot, according to the New York Times.
The Black Hawk was operating in support of an ongoing assault on the ground, according to the Associated Press.
A spokesman for the Taliban said the group had shot down the helicopter, but American officials said there was no indication yet that enemy fire was the cause, according to the New York Times.
Essex was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks on the Hawaiian island of Oahu.
Essex”s aunt, Mayme Dyslin, said a Four-Star General from his unit in Hawaii will attend the service. She said the Military Funeral Honors Team of Lake County will also attend, as well as members of the Patriot Guard and county officials.
Essex”s mother, Marion Hopkins, said the family is expecting more than a thousand people to attend.
