Army Sgt. Dwight W. Burn, 27, was killed Saturday during a training exercise when his CH-47 Chinook helicopter crashed Orogrande, New Mexico, the Army has confirmed.
Burn, along with three other soldiers injured in the crash, was assigned to the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C.
Born in Belize, Burn moved to the Southern California city of Barstow as a child. He graduated high school in 2005 and later attended Barstow Community College. He enlisted in the Army in 2010, and was deployed to Afghanistan from September 2011 to September 2012 with the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade.
Burn's ex-wife Cintia Vasquez told The Fayetteville Observer that she learned of his death from her former mother-in-law, who still lives in Barstow:
"He was in practice and crashed, and it burned. That's how he died - he burned."
Vasquez and Burn have two daughters: Violet, 7, and Vivian, 4. Vasquez explained to the El Paso Times the depth of Burn's love for his little girls:
"He was a great father. Anyone who came in, he showed them the pictures of his two daughters in his wallet. They were his pride and joy."
An investigation into the cause of the accident is underway.
