By AP/KWMU
Washington, DC – The Pentagon said Sunday a soldier from the Metro-East was one of 17 killed this weekend in Iraq when two helicopters collided in Iraq.
William Dusenbery, 30, was from Fairview Heights. His family says he planned to make the military his career.
Jessica Wheat says the man she planned to marry treated the helicopter as a part of himself. Dusenbery's father, William, says he died doing what he loves, flying.
But Wheat says Dusenbery lately had been worn down by the conditions in Iraq, where he reported having mice in his food and living in a tent not fit for a dog.
Two Black Hawk helicopters apparently collided in the Iraqi city of Mosul. Investigators are trying to determine whether insurgent ground fire caused the crash.