Savannah man, 4 other Georgia-based soldiers killed in crash

By Mike Morris

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A Savannah man was among seven soldiers killed Monday in an Army helicopter crash in Afghanistan, the Department of Defense announced overnight. Five of the seven were based at Hunter Army Airfield near Savannah.

Enlarge photo

Chief Warrant Officer Michael P. Montgomery

More Atlanta area news »

• DeKalb House delegation unable to approve school board redistricting map
• Arrest made in alleged kidnapping
• FEMA sends Berkeley Lake $723K for dam repairs
• Lawrenceville seeks input on downtown corridor study

Chief Warrant Officer Michael P. Montgomery, 36, of Savannah, was on his seventh deployment when he was killed, according to the Savannah Morning News. He is survived by his wife and son, Anita and Riley Montgomery of Savannah, and his mother, Mary Montgomery of Redmond, Wash.

Also killed in the crash were Hunter-based soldiers Chief Warrant Officer Niall Lyons, 40, of Spokane, Wash., Staff Sgt. Shawn H. McNabb, 24, of Terrell, Texas, Sgt. Josue E. Hernandez Chavez, 23, of Reno, Nev., and Sgt. Nikolas A. Mueller, 26, of Little Chute, Wis.

The five were assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 160th Special Operations Regiment (Airborne).

Sgt. 1st Class David E. Metzger, 32, of San Diego, and Staff Sgt. Keith R. Bishop, 28, of Medford, N.Y., were also killed. They were assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, N.C.

All seven died of injuries suffered when the MH-47 helicopter they were aboard crashed in Darreh-ye Bum, Afghanistan.