A memorial service was held Tuesday at Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo, for two 1st Infantry Division soldiers killed when their AH-64 Apache helicopter crashed near Novo Brdo in Kosovo.
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Andrew Robbins, 41, and Warrant Officer Devon DeSouza, 29, were serving in Multinational Brigade-East as part of the peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, according to a release from MNB-East public affairs.
Multinational Brigade-East public affairs had no information on whether the helicopter was involved in routine patrols or if the pilots were participating in training when the accident occurred Sunday.
Currently, under 3,000 U.S. soldiers are serving as peacekeepers in Kosovo, said Maj. Hillary Luton, a Multinational Brigade-East spokeswoman.
Robbins and DeSouza were pilots assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 1st Aviation Regiment based in Ansbach, Germany.
Robbins, from Goldsboro, N.C., is survived by a wife and two children. DeSouza of Lake Worth, Fla., is survived by a wife and one child.
“We would like to express our sincere condolences to the families of Chief Warrant Officer Robbins and Warrant Officer DeSouza,” said Brig. Gen. Daniel Keefe, commander of U.S. Forces in Kosovo in a June 9 press release from Multinational Brigade East. “The Army family has lost two of our best.”
Robbins’ and DeSouza’s remains were flown to Germany on Monday evening, Luton said.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
