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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted at 10:57 a.m., Monday, April 11, 2005

Two Schofield Barracks soldiers killed in crash identified

By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer

The Pentagon today identified the two Schofield Barracks soldiers killed or missing from the April 6 crash of a CH-47 helicopter in Afghanistan as Master Sgt. Edwin A. Matoscolon, 42, of Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico; and Sgt. Maj. Barbaralien Banks, 41, of Harvey, La.

Both soldiers were members of Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, division artillery, 25th Infantry Division (Light).

Matoscolon, listed as having died in the crash in Ghazni province in the southern Afghan desert, was a mechanical maintenance supervisor who entered the Army in March 1984. He was assigned to Schofield Barracks in April of 2004.

Banks was unaccounted for from the crash and is listed as "duty status whereabouts unknown." The senior food management supervisor entered the Army in March of 1988, and she was assigned to Schofield Barracks in May of 2003.

Neither soldier has any family in Hawai'i, the 25th Division said.

The death from the fiery crash rose to 18 after searchers found the remains of two more Americans in the wreckage Saturday.

The big, twin-rotor Chinook helicopter crashed as it returned to Bagram Air Base from a mission to deliver mail and supplies and transport personnel in the insurgency-plagued south. The charred wreckage was found in an area of desert near a cluster of brick kilns.

Officials reported no sign of enemy fire and suggested bad visibility and strong winds may have caused the crash. A second Chinook made it safely back.

The crash was the deadliest for Americans since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.