Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Christopher M. Allgaier

Remember Our Heroes

Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Christopher M. Allgaier, 33, of Middleton, Mo.

CWO3 Allgaier was assigned to the 3rd General Support Aviation Battalion, 82nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.; died May 30, 2007 in Upper Sangin Valley, Afghanistan, when his CH-47 Chinook helicopter crashed apparently due to enemy fire. Also killed were Chief Warrant Officer 2 Joshua R. Rodgers, Staff Sgt. Charlie L. Bagwell, Sgt. Jesse A. Blamires and Sgt. Brandon E. Hadaway.

Army Chief Warrant Officer Chris Allgaier, a native of Omaha, was among those killed Wednesday when a helicopter went down in Afghanistan. His father told us Friday that the 33-year-old pilot loved to fly.

Allgaier was among five U.S. soldiers killed in the crash of the transport helicopter. They were members of the 82nd Airborne Division.

Allgaier was an Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 and a graduate of Creighton Prep. The school had its flag at half-staff on Friday in his memory.

Allgaier's father, Bob Allgaier said Friday, "I figured it was much safer there than in Iraq. They did most of their flying at night which was supposedly safer yet."

Major John Thomas, a spokesperson for NATO's International Security Assistance Force, says, "It was a hostile area where the helicopter went down and initial indications are that enemy fire may have brought down the helicopter."

Maj. Thomas says that 30 or more service members from the 82nd Airborne had been dropped off by the Chinook shortly before it went down late Wednesday. A Briton and a Canadian were killed along with the five Americans.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Chinook crashed on the first day of a new joint NATO-Afghan operation to force Taliban fighters out of parts of Afghanistan's volatile Helmand Province, in the southern part of the country.

Bob Allgaier says, "He was doing what he thought was right. And it was his job."

Chris had been in Afghanistan since January and in the Army for 12 years.

He leaves behind his wife and three daughters: nine-year-old Natalie, eight-year-old Gina and three-year-old Joanna.

Bob Allgaier says, "The two older ones know their dad is dead. The baby, she doesn't know. Her mom told me last night and had her play phone out like she was talking to her daddy. It's possible at her age she will never know him."

Bob says part of his duty now will be to make sure his granddaughters don't forget their father.

"He'll always be a hero to me," Bob said.

Omaha native dies in helicopter crash in Afghanistan

By The Associated Press

OMAHA, Neb. — An Omaha native was among the five American soldiers killed this week in an Army helicopter crash in Afghanistan.

Chief Warrant Officer Chris Allgaier died Wednesday after about 30 service members from the 82nd Airborne Division had been dropped off by the CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter, his father, Bob Allgaier, told the Omaha World-Herald.

Chris Allgaier, 33, graduated from Omaha Creighton Prep High School in 1991, said Nate Driml, the school’s director of alumni and community relations. Driml said a priest from the Jesuit school visited Allgaier’s family Friday.

U.S. military officials said initial reports suggested the helicopter was hit with a rocket-propelled grenade but that enemy fire was only one of several possibilities.

Before his deployment, Allgaier had lived near the 82nd’s headquarters in Fort Bragg, N.C., with his wife, Jennie, and their three children.

Funeral services were pending.

Allgaier graduated with highest honors at Prep, ranking No. 4 in his class, Driml said. Allgaier was a member of the National Honor Society, the National Spanish Honor Society and the school’s science club, Driml said.

Allgaier earned a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical administration from Saint Louis University in 1995 and a master’s degree in aeronautical science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2001, according to Allgaier’s personal Web page on the “Friendster” social networking site.

The Chinook crashed on the first day of a new joint NATO-Afghan operation to force Taliban fighters out of parts of Afghanistan’s volatile Helmand Province, in the southern part of the country.

The American soldiers who were killed were part of a brigade that deployed earlier this year along with the division’s commanding general and his staff.

Army Chief Warrant Officer 3 Christopher M. Allgaier was killed in action on 5/30/07.