Hemet grad killed in Iraq

01:57 PM PST on Wednesday, February 7, 2007

The Press-Enterprise

A 1984 graduate of Hemet High School has died in Iraq, the fifth alum of the school and the sixth from the district to be killed in the conflict.

Chief Warrant Officer Keith Yoakum, 41, died Feb. 2 in Taji, Iraq, of wounds suffered when the Apache helicopter he was flying in was forced to land during combat operations, the Department of Defense announced today.

He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

Other Hemet School District alumni to die in Iraq:

Army Spc. Jason Chappell, 22, died in a roadside bomb attack in January 2004.

Marine Cpl. Michael Estrella, 20, died June 2006 when his patrol came under enemy fire.

Army Pfc. Kenny Francis Stanton Jr., 20, died in October 2006 in a roadside bombing.

Navy Corpsman Charles Otto "Otter" Sare, 23, was killed in an October, 2006 roadside bombing.

Lance Cpl. Jeromy D. West, 20, of Aguanga, died November 2006 while conducting combat operations.

© 2007 Press-Enterprise Company

Hemet High graduate dies in Iraq

'LIVED TO FLY': The Army pilot is the sixth alumnus of the school district to die in Iraq since 2004.

10:00 PM PST on Wednesday, February 7, 2007

By KENNY KLEIN and HERBERT ATIENZA
The Press-Enterprise

HEMET - A 1984 graduate of Hemet High School who found his calling as a pilot is the fifth from the school to die in Iraq since 2004.

Chief Warrant Officer Keith Yoakum, 41, a U.S. Army pilot, was killed Friday in Taji, Iraq, after succumbing to injuries he suffered when the Apache helicopter he was in was forced to land during combat operations, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Defense.

A fellow soldier in the helicopter, Chief Warrant Officer Jason G. Defrenn, 34, of Barnwell, S.C., also was killed, the statement said.

Both soldiers were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Cavalry Regiment, 1st Division, in Fort Hood, Texas. The incident is under investigation, the statement said.

"We're saddened by the loss of another Hemet High grad," said Principal Bill Black, who said the death of another alumnus is shocking news for the school.

Four other graduates have been killed while serving in Iraq in the past two years.

"It leaves us speechless," Black said. "It's an awful lot for a small community ... it's more than our fair share."

Friends of Yoakum, who moved to Alabama with his wife, Kelly, and their two children, a few years ago, remember the fallen soldier as someone whose goal was to fly.

"He was a good friend, a very likable person," said Jim Duran, 40, of Hemet, who was Yoakum's classmate during junior and high school. "You don't ever think of something like that happening to anybody that close to you."

Duran, a transmission technician at Rancho Ford in Temecula, said he and Yoakum shared an interest in auto mechanics.

Shortly after high school, he said, Yoakum talked to him about joining the military.

Yoakum's fraternal twin, Kevin, recently retired from the U.S. Army, said Duran's wife, Dina.

Jim Duran, who said Yoakum kept in touch with him over the years and took him and his wife on a plane ride once, said his friend wanted to see the world.

"When he put his mind into something, he'd do it. He said he was going to be a pilot, and he did," Duran said.

Yoakum, who was restoring a 1946 Fairchild single-engine military trainer that is still kept at Hemet-Ryan Airport, learned to fly there and obtained his private pilot's license in the early 1980s, said Lloyd Cliff, of Hemet-Ryan Aviation.

Cliff, 60, of Hemet, said the company considered Yoakum "one of the Hemet-Ryan Family" and always kept track of him no matter where he was -- even in Iraq.

"He was one of those kids who all he wanted to do was fly," Cliff said. "It was his passion. He lived to fly."

Cliff said Yoakum not only flew military helicopters, but he was a certified instructor on several types.

"He was doing exactly what he wanted to do," Cliff said. "He will be missed."

Joe Riedell, 78, of Hemet, who friends said was Yoakum's mentor, gave him his first job at United Transmission on Florida Avenue. First, he was a pickup and delivery boy and then he worked his way up to transmission repair.

"He did not last long as a PUD. He had too much going for that," Riedell said.

From the shop, which was along the final approach path of the runway at Hemet-Ryan Airport, Yoakum would stop everything he was doing and run out to watch the planes -- every chance he got, Riedell said.

"I said ... 'Why don't you fly?' " he said. "He said 'I've been told I'm not bright enough.' I told him, 'if I can do it ... you can do it.' "

Yoakum soloed in a single-engine Cessna 150 at the airport in the mid-'80s.

"He spent all the money he made on flying and dreamed of being an aviator of some kind," Riedell said. "He cleaned yards. He did anything and everything to fly. He spent money that was not even cold yet."

Riedell said he and Yoakum were "buddies."The two spoke once a week and exchanged letters.

"If I ever had a son, I'd want him to be just like Keith," Riedell said. "He was the sunrise and sunset to me. If I had a thousand Keiths in this world, we could take care of everything."

He said the Yoakum family moved to Alabama and purchased 51 acres. His two brothers were finishing the landing strip there, where he planned to fly the Fairchild plane when he returned from the war.

Yoakum never got the chance.

"He believed in his country," Riedell said. "But he could not understand how people could strap bombs to themselves and blow themselves up."

Black said Yoakum's name and picture will be added to the memorial plaque set up to honor alumni who died in Iraq.

The plaque hangs among historical U.S. documents in the Freedom Shrine on the second floor of the school's main classroom building.

Hemet Vice Mayor Lori Van Arsdale called Yoakum's death one of the worst things she has ever heard.

The impact of the deaths on the community has been overwhelming, she said.

"I don't even know what to say but it makes me sick," Van Arsdale said.

Fallen Servicemen

Hemet school district graduates who have died in Iraq:

Army Spc. Jason Chappell, 22, died in a roadside bomb attack in January 2004.

Marine Cpl. Michael Estrella, 20, died in June 2006 when his patrol came under enemy fire.

Army Pfc. Kenny Francis Stanton Jr., 20, died in October 2006 in a roadside bombing.

Navy Corpsman Charles Otto "Otter" Sare, 23, was killed in an October 2006 roadside bombing.

Lance Cpl. Jeromy D. West, 20, of Aguanga, died November 2006 while conducting combat operations.

Army Chief Warrant Officer Keith Yoakum, 41, died Friday in Taji, Iraq, of wounds suffered when the Apache helicopter he was on was forced to land during combat operations.

© 2007 Press-Enterprise Company

02/08/2007 GAAS:111:07 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Gov. Schwarzenegger Issues Statement on Death of Hemet Soldier

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today released the following statement regarding the death of Chief Warrant Officer Keith Yoakum of Hemet, CA:

“Maria and I join all Californians in expressing our heartfelt condolences to the family of Chief Warrant Officer Keith Yoakum. Keith’s sacrifice is a reminder of the tremendous sacrifices made for our liberties. Our prayers are with his loved ones during their time of mourning.”

Yoakum, 41, died Feb. 2 as a result of injuries sustained when his Apache helicopter was forced to land during combat operations in Taji, Iraq. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, TX.

In honor of Chief Warrant Officer Yoakum, Capitol flags will be flown at half-staff.

© 2006 State of California

I just wanted to thank you for the comments on the death of my brother Keith Yoakum. We all will miss him very much and are extremely proud of him. He was truly an American hero.

MILITARY DEATHS
Army Chief Warrant Officer Keith Yoakum, 41, Hemet; killed in a helicopter crash in Iraq
By Jonathan Abrams, Times Staff Writer
February 18, 2007


Only one fixation could interrupt a teenage Keith Yoakum while he worked as a delivery boy for a Hemet automobile repair shop. Planes frequently whizzed by from the nearby Hemet-Ryan Airport, and on each ascent Yoakum would drop everything and rush to gaze at the planes until they blurred into dots in the sky.

"Every doggone time, he would run out and look at the planes," said his then-boss Joe Riedell. "I asked him, 'If you like airplanes, why not fly?' "

Yoakum responded, "I love them, but I've been told I don't have enough smarts to fly."

Riedell persuaded Yoakum to begin flying, and his love eventually spawned a decorated military career in which he received numerous awards, including the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.

The 41-year-old Army chief warrant officer was one of two soldiers killed Feb. 2 when their Apache helicopter crashed in Taji, Iraq, north of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division at Ft. Hood, Texas.

"He made us all stand a little taller and be the best that we can be," said Yoakum's brother Mark. "He wasn't the wind beneath our wings, but he was our wings."

Keith Yoakum grew up in Hemet and enlisted in the Army a short time after graduating from Hemet High School in 1984.

His military career spanned two decades. Although he was nominated to fly for the Army's prestigious Golden Knights parachute team two years ago, he turned down the opportunity in order to go to Iraq. He returned in September, and had more than 300 hours of combined flying time.

"He was such a good man," said his wife, Kelly, who lives in Alabama. "He was a very good father. He was very proud of his daughters [Katelynn, 16; and Kirstee, 14], and with what little time he had, he tried to give it to them."

Kevin Yoakum, his fraternal twin, recently retired from the military. The three brothers purchased 51 acres in Alabama and had started building a hangar along with a landing strip.

"He was teaching his daughters how to fly," his wife said. "That was his dream, to own his own grass strip. Flying was his passion. And he loved his brothers and wanted to do as many things as possible together."

In addition to his wife, daughters and brothers, Yoakum is survived by his parents, George and Phoebe of Twentynine Palms, Calif.; and a sister, Maryann Brown.

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jonathan.abrams@latimes.com

The Associated Press contributed to this report.