![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ARM-25th-ID-CW2-Cantrell.jpg.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nKatie Cantrell said her husband joined the Army to support their family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 32-year-old helicopter pilot from Wichita Falls, Texas, loved to ride motorcycles and work on cars. He was \u201calways in the garage messing with something,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also loved to play practical jokes. Like the time when he poured ice cubes into the shower while Katie Cantrell was showering or when he set off small \u201cPop-It\u201d fireworks next to her when she was cooking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe never was angry. He was always smiling. His laugh was contagious,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Katie Cantrell is facing a future as a single mother to three children, ages 12, 10 and 7. The special needs teacher is currently unemployed. She gave up her job to move to Hawaii with her family in June. She was planning to start work again on the day of the crash. She will instead move back to the mainland with her children and look for a new job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stephen Cantrell\u2019s brother set up a GoFundMe online fundraising campaign to raise funds to help them along, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to be on our own,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cantrell deployed twice to Afghanistan and once to Iraq. He received the Air Medal, Army Commendation Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster and other awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His remains weren\u2019t found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
STAFF SGT. ABIGAIL R. MILAM<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n The 33-year-old was a Black Hawk helicopter crew chief from Jenkins, Kentucky, a rural town of about 2,000 close to the state border with Virginia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She made everyone laugh and was universally loved, said Sabrina Flick, a friend who met Milam when they both worked at a Wendy\u2019s restaurant as teenagers. But her confidence and determination stood out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf she wanted to do something she was going to do it. And you weren\u2019t going to tell her no. If she put her mind to it, she was going to accomplish it,\u201d Flick said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of Milam\u2019s goals was to come home, get a farm and take care of her family, Flick said. \u201cShe always wanted a wraparound porch with a screen door that slammed shut,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The community held a candlelight vigil for Milam on Aug. 19, her birthday, when the search was continuing. People later gathered to release balloons after her death was confirmed. The Walmart in Whitesburg, Kentucky, lowered its flag to half-staff in her honor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Milam saw the good in people, and she didn\u2019t dwell on what they wore or what kind of car they drove, said her ex-husband, Thomas Michael Milam II. \u201cShe could always see past that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She always dreamed of serving in the military. \u201cI\u2019m at least glad she got to experience that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Flick said she hopes people will keep praying for Milam\u2019s wife and her family. \u201cI know how hard it is for me, so I can\u2019t imagine how hard it is for them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Milam received the Army Commendation Medal and other awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She was identified by DNA analysis of remains found among crash debris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SGT. MICHAEL L. NELSON<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Black Hawk helicopter crew chief from Antioch, Tennessee, deployed to Afghanistan twice. The 30-year-old was a \u201cgood soldier, good guy,\u201d said Mario Scott, who deployed with Nelson to Afghanistan for a year starting in December 2008. Nelson was a crew member on Black Hawks that carried soldiers and commanders around the country, Scott said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scott said he and Nelson used to go to clubs and play video games together when they were stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe was an all-around great guy,\u201d said Scott, who is now an IT service analyst at The Tennessean, a newspaper in Nashville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nelson was awarded the Air Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster and other medals. He was identified using DNA analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n CHIEF WARRANT OFFICER 3 BRIAN M. WOEBER<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n Woeber, 41, had three children, according to The Decatur Daily, a newspaper in his hometown of Decatur, Alabama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe was a great guy and friends with everyone,\u201d Heather Aldridge Smith told the newspaper. She remembered the 1995 Austin High School graduate from their time in youth programs as Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The helicopter pilot was declared dead though his remains weren\u2019t found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Woeber had deployment to Afghanistan and Egypt. His awards include the Army Commendation Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1ST LT. KATHRYN M. BAILEY<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n The 26-year-old had just moved to Wheeler Army Airfield in Hawaii from Fort Rucker, Alabama, earlier this year, according to a May article in Hawaii Army Weekly. The newspaper had interviewed Bailey for a story about moving to a new post in the Army. In the story, Bailey recommended that people start preparing for their move early.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Hope Mills, North Carolina, native joined the Army in January 2015. She was trained to be a Black Hawk pilot. She received the National Defense Service Medal and other awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bailey was declared dead with the help of DNA analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Associated Press writer Cathy Bussewitz contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n Profiles of the five soldiers killed in the Aug. 15 helicopter crash in Hawaii.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":45706,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":15,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"coauthors":[5121],"class_list":["post-40724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"3BYM53HEDFDXNFO7BCLTX4U2K4","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-army\/2017\/09\/01\/loved-ones-remember-soldiers-killed-in-hawaii-black-hawk-crash\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ARM-25th-ID-SSG-Abigail-R.-Milam-Copy-Copy.jpg.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ARM-25th-ID-SGT-Nelson-cropped-Copy-Copy.jpg.jpg\")
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