Operation Iraqi Freedom casualty buried in the same casket with the first Iraqi national to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Air Force Staff Sergeant Casey Crate, four other U.S. airmen and Iraqi Air Force Captain Ali Hussam Abass Alrubaeye died when their Iraqi Air Force Comp Air 7SL aircraft that had been on a mission to survey potential emergency landing sites in the region went down in the Diyala Province in eastern Iraq. Even after DNA tests, officials were unable to identify some of the remains of the five men killed, so the unidentified remains of Maj. William Downs; Capt. Jeremy Fresques; Capt. Derek Argel; Staff Sgt. Casey Crate, and Iraqi Air Force Capt. Ali Hussam Abass Alrubaeye, were buried together in a silver casket with full military honors. The 30-minute service included a procession by a U.S. Air Force band ahead of a caisson carrying the casket, a flyover and a 21-gun salute. He was from Spanaway, Washington and was assigned to the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Florida. Age 26 years old.
NOTE: Separate funerals with remains that could be identified were held earlier by each of the airmen's families.
NOTE: Separate funerals with remains that could be identified were held earlier by each of the airmen's families.
Operation Iraqi Freedom casualty buried in the same casket with the first Iraqi national to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Air Force Staff Sergeant Casey Crate, four other U.S. airmen and Iraqi Air Force Captain Ali Hussam Abass Alrubaeye died when their Iraqi Air Force Comp Air 7SL aircraft that had been on a mission to survey potential emergency landing sites in the region went down in the Diyala Province in eastern Iraq. Even after DNA tests, officials were unable to identify some of the remains of the five men killed, so the unidentified remains of Maj. William Downs; Capt. Jeremy Fresques; Capt. Derek Argel; Staff Sgt. Casey Crate, and Iraqi Air Force Capt. Ali Hussam Abass Alrubaeye, were buried together in a silver casket with full military honors. The 30-minute service included a procession by a U.S. Air Force band ahead of a caisson carrying the casket, a flyover and a 21-gun salute. He was from Spanaway, Washington and was assigned to the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Florida. Age 26 years old.
NOTE: Separate funerals with remains that could be identified were held earlier by each of the airmen's families.
NOTE: Separate funerals with remains that could be identified were held earlier by each of the airmen's families.
