Lehigh County soldier killed in Iraq copter crash

FOGELSVILLE, Pa. - An Army officer from Lehigh County was killed in a helicopter crash in Iraq, the U.S. Department of Defense announced Tuesday.

Capt. Mark T. Resh, 28, of Fogelsville, was one of two soldiers killed when the chopper crashed in Najaf, Iraq, on Sunday. Also killed was Chief Warrant Office Cornell C. Chao, 36, of California. Resh and Chao were serving as pilots with the Fourth Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, First Air Cavalry Brigade, First Cavalry Division out of Fort Hood, Texas.

Resh's father, Charles T. Resh, said his son graduated from the University of Pittsburgh and had been in ROTC, then went into the Army in 2001. He was deployed to Iraq in September. "He got what he wanted. He liked being an Apache helicopter pilot. He wanted that," his father said. The military had not told him whether his son was piloting the helicopter when it crashed, he said. - AP