U.S. Army pilot Cornell Chao, 36, formerly of Fullerton, died Sunday, January 27, when his Apache helicopter crashed in Najaf, Iraq. Army pilot Cornell Chao, 36, a 1988 graduate from Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton, served in the infantry during Operation Desert Storm - the first Gulf war - in 1991.
He returned as a helicopter gunner during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, patrolling mostly
around Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad. On March 23, 2003, his Apache Longbow helicopter
took more than 25 rounds during an attack 100 miles behind enemy lines.
Chao and his gunner, Capt. Mark T. Resh of Pittsburgh, bring the total, confirmed U.S. deaths in
Iraq to 3,075, according to the Department of Defense. Chao, a chief warrant officer 3, flew with
the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, part of the 1st Cavalry Division based in Fort Hood, Texas.
From Washington, D.C., to Louisiana, where his fiancée received her engagement ring last week,
to a community of Orange County seniors. (Source: Tom Berg, The Orange County Register, Jan
31, 2007).