Illinois pilot dies in copter attack

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-031103iraq-illinois-story,1,6706863.story?coll=chi-homepagepromo451-fea

First Lt. Brian Slavenas, the pilot from Illinois who died along with 15 other soldiers when a helicopter was shot down Sunday in Iraq, was a ``gentle giant,'' his father said today.

Slavenas, 30, loved flying the Chinook helicopter, the type that was shot down on Sunday, said his father, Ronald Slavenas.

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Brian Slavenas was born in DeKalb, about 60 miles west of Chicago, but moved to Fort Wayne, Ind., as a child. He later moved back to Illinois and attended high school at DeKalb.

``Brian was an excellent student and represented DeKalb High School and the United States in a very heroic way,'' said the school's principal, Larry Stinson.

After high school, he became a paratrooper with the U.S. Army and then joined the same unit of the National Guard that his father was in. He later went to officer school and decided to become a helicopter pilot.

In Iraq, he flew dignitaries, soldiers, Iraqi prisoners and equipment, and he liked to check out historical sites from his pilot's chair, his father said.