MENDON, N.Y. - Forty-five New York Army National Guard aviation Soldiers were in formation June 11 as town officials unveiled a memorial to three of their fellow members who died in a helicopter crash in the town on Jan. 20, 2021.
It was important for the men and women of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 171st General Support Aviation Battalion, to be present as the monument to three medevac pilots was formally dedicated at Semmel Road Park, according to Maj. Michael Jamieson, company commander.
“The Town of Mendon has done all this work to make a memorial for three of our Soldiers,” he said. “They didn’t ask us for any help. They didn’t ask us for any money.
“Mendon is not a very big town,” Jamieson said. “The amount of effort they put into this was pretty amazing.”
The monument, created by a local artist, depicts three geese flying. Plaques with the biographies of the three pilots who died in the crash are part of the memorial.
The three men, based at Army Aviation Support Facility #3 at Rochester International Airport, were killed during what was supposed to be a routine night-vision training flight. They were:
-Chief Warrant Officer 5 Steve Skoda, 54, of Rochester, served in the Army for 35 years and was an experienced flight instructor.
-Chief Warrant Officer 2 Daniel Prial, 30, of Rochester, a former Army captain who graduated from West Point Academy and flew combat missions in Afghanistan.
-Chief Warrant Officer 4 Christian Koch, 39, of Honeoye Falls, served the National Guard for 20 years and was a pilot with the New York State Police aviation unit.
“It was pretty emotional,” Jamieson said about the dedication ceremony. “We have been through a lot of these memorials. But now, to actually see something with the permanence of a memorial; it was very emotional for everyone.”
It was important to be there because “about a third of the company never knew these three men,” Jamieson said. “It was important for them to know what we’ve been going through.”
Events like this remind the Soldiers that flying medical evacuation helicopters is dangerous, even in peacetime, he added.
Maj. General Ray Shields, the adjutant general of New York, praised the town for creating a “magnificent memorial.”
“No words can heal the grief that everyone feels for Steve, Christian and Dan,” Shields said during the ceremony. “But this memorial is a beautiful tribute to each of them.”