Ten Schofield Barracks soldiers set to fly home in the coming months perished in a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crash in northern Iraq yesterday, taking away the breath — again — of a state grown accustomed to war deployments, but still stunned by such a loss.

The 14 soldiers aboard — four crew members and 10 passengers — died when the single-rotor troop transport went down before dawn in the Tamim province that surrounds Kirkuk, an oil-rich city 150 miles north of Baghdad, the Army said.

The soldiers were assigned to Task Force Lightning, which includes units from Schofield and other bases across the nation. The two pilots and two crew were from the 4th Squadron, 6th Air Cavalry, out of Fort Lewis, Wash., but were attached to Hawai'i's 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported.

All 10 passengers were from Schofield Barracks.

It was the greatest single loss of life for the Army this year in Iraq, and the highest single-day fatality total for the 25th Infantry Division in Hawai'i since the Vietnam War.

The military said initial indications were that the UH-60 helicopter had a mechanical problem and was not brought down by hostile fire, but the cause of the crash is under investigation.

It is the second catastrophic loss for Hawai'i due to a helicopter crash in Iraq. On Jan. 26, 2005, 26 Kane'ohe Bay Marines and a sailor from the base were killed when a CH-53E Super Stallion went down in a sandstorm in western Iraq.

The military isn't releasing the identities of the dead from yesterday's crash until officials notify relatives, but families already are coming forward.

Media reports identified seven of the dead: Ricky Bell of Caruthersville, Mo.; Joshua Harmon of Willoughby Hills, Ohio; Michael Hook of Altoona, Pa.; Nathan Hubbard of Clovis, Calif.; Garret McLeod of Rockport, Texas; Jesse Pollard of Springfield, Mo.; and Corry Paul Tyler of Woodbine, Ga.

COMMUNITY SHAKEN

The local military community that had to deal with the 2005 tragedy was shaken by this new major loss.

Dolly Purdie lives in Army housing at Schofield Barracks and spoke to her husband, Staff Sgt. Kevin Purdie, yesterday morning through an Internet connection.

It's Kevin Purdie's second time in Iraq with the 3rd Brigade's Support Battalion, and his wife has learned to not dwell on the dangers of his deployment. The battalion is stationed at Kirkuk Air Base, the main installation in Tamim province, where the helicopter went down.

"You can't think about it too much," Dolly Purdie said. "I try not to because I'll just stress myself out."

But when news of U.S. casualties spreads, the lack of information can be even worse.

"The not knowing is the worst part," she said.

Seth Kirchbaum of Waialua said he's OK when there is no news because it probably means his wife, a sergeant with the 3rd Brigade's Special Troops Battalion, is alive.

"When they're dead, we'll find out pretty fast," Kirchbaum said. "No news is good news."

Kirchbaum got out of the Army in September as a sergeant and Chinese linguist. His wife, Sgt. Cynthia Archibald, is also a Chinese linguist and is now stationed in Iraq and often flies on helicopters.

Kirchbaum said he can still get rattled by a phone call from a strange telephone number. It might be someone from the Department of Defense telling him bad news.

"My heart skips a beat when I don't recognize the number," Kirchbaum said. "It's given me whole new respect for firefighters' and policemen's families. I don't know how they do it."

U.S. Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, D-Hawai'i, who lost his right arm to an enemy grenade in World War II, said his heart goes out to the families and loved ones of those who died yesterday.

"Having spent a year in combat many years ago, I believe I can understand, to a small degree, the pain, sadness and grief of those who will spend their lives remembering these heroes," Inouye said. "America owes these brave soldiers and their families a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid. I salute them."

FLYING TANDEM

The Black Hawk was one of two helicopters flying together and had just picked up troops after a mission when it crashed, said Lt. Col. Michael Donnelly, a military spokesman in northern Iraq.

Col. Timothy Ryan, the rear detachment commander for the 25th Infantry Division, said on behalf of the Schofield Barracks community that "our thoughts, prayers and most sincere condolences go out to the families and loved ones of these American heroes."

A spokesman for U.S. Army, Pacific, at Fort Shafter said yesterday family notifications are almost complete.

Combat memorials will be held for the fallen soldiers in Iraq with empty boots, upturned M-4 rifles topped by a helmet and photos of the troops.

A U.S. soldier also was killed and three others were wounded yesterday during fighting west of Baghdad, the military said. A suicide truck bombing against a police station in the northern oil hub of Beiji claimed at least 45 lives — 25 policemen and 20 civilians — amid a series of deadly attacks north of the capital.

The U.S. military relies heavily on helicopters to avoid the threat of ambushes and roadside bombs — the deadliest weapon in the militants' arsenal — and dozens have crashed in accidents or been shot down.

Yesterday's deaths raised to at least 3,722 the number of U.S. military members who have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

MISSION EXTENDED

More than 7,000 Schofield Barracks soldiers have spent a year in northern Iraq, based mostly in Tikrit, near Mosul, in Kirkuk and just to the southwest of Kirkuk in Hawija.

During the deployment, their mission was extended from a year to up to 15 months. With the latest deaths, 39 Schofield Barracks soldiers have been killed in Iraq on this deployment.

That compares with 13 Schofield soldiers killed on a 2004 Iraq deployment by 5,200 soldiers.

The increase in casualties reflects stepped-up attacks against Americans, particularly by roadside bombs and snipers.

The 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, with 2,400 Hawai'i soldiers and nearly 100 Black Hawk, Kiowa and Chinook helicopters, is expected to begin leaving Iraq in September. Other Schofield soldiers will rotate out in October and November.

On Memorial Day, a Schofield Barracks OH-58D Kiowa, one of two flying low and fast, was shot down by heavy machine-gun fire in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad, one of the most dangerous regions in Iraq.

The two pilots, 1st Lt. Keith Heidtman, 24, and Chief Warrant Officer Theodore "Tuc" Church, 32, were killed. Their aircraft hit the ground hard and was destroyed.

Since early August 2006, the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade has lost at least four aircraft: two to enemy fire, one to mechanical problems and one due to the "environment," an official said.

The deaths Dec. 6 of five other Schofield soldiers from a large roadside bomb that hit their Humvee in Hawija, southwest of Kirkuk, represented the single-greatest combat loss for the 25th Infantry Division prior to yesterday's helicopter crash.

The UH-60 Black Hawk that crashed yesterday went down moments after soldiers who had finished the ground part of their operation had boarded the aircraft.

"They were conducting an extraction of soldiers. It took place, and shortly after the extraction was when the mechanical malfunction occurred," said Donnelly, the Task Force Lightning spokesman.

He said the Kirkuk area is a combination of rolling hills and flat desert plains. There was an established landing zone for the operation.

The U.S. military often uses helicopters for "air assaults" to provide an element of surprise that vehicle convoys often cannot, and crews fly in blacked-out cockpits using night-vision goggles.

Task Force Lightning, a play on the 25th Division's "Tropic Lightning" nickname in Hawai'i, has its headquarters in Tikrit at Contingency Operations Base Speicher and has responsibility for 23,000 soldiers in multiple units over a Pennsylvania-sized area north of Baghdad.

'A TRAGIC DAY'

The aircraft has been recovered, and the identities of the victims and their unit information will not be released until their families have been notified.

The four crew members and 10 passengers killed near Kirkuk were part of a two-aircraft formation on a night operation with several different elements on the ground and in the air.

Officials yesterday offered their condolences.

"This is a tragic day for the state of Hawai'i and our nation as we mourn the loss of (the) Schofield soldiers who were a special part of our Hawai'i 'ohana," Gov. Linda Lingle said.

U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, meanwhile, said: "I am deeply saddened to learn that this crash has claimed the lives of more American soldiers, and the burden of this tragedy grows even heavier to know that the lives of some soldiers from our military 'ohana here in Hawai'i are involved. The thoughts and prayers of our state and nation are with the family, friends and fellow soldiers of those who lost their lives."

Assurances had to be issued yesterday morning that a Hawai'i Army National Guard helicopter unit was not involved in the crash.

Maj. Gen. Robert G.F. Lee, state adjutant general and head of the Hawai'i National Guard, said the 75 soldiers with Hilo, Hawai'i-based Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation, are now in the Middle East preparing to enter Iraq. The unit will have 10 Black Hawks and will be assigned to a combat aviation brigade out of Minnesota.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com and Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com.