Captain Kimberly N. Hampton, 27, of Easley, SC, was assigned to 1st Battalion, 82nd Aviation Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C. She was killed on Jan. 2, 2004, in Fallujah, Iraq. She was the pilot on a Kiowa, OH-58, Observation Helicopter when it was shot down by enemy ground fire and crashed. She was the first female military pilot in the US to be killed in Iraq.

CPT Hampton attended Presbyterian College where she an honors graduate. Excelling in tennis, she never lost a match during her time there. While at PC, she became the battalion commander of the ROTC unit. In 1998 she was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army. Then, driven by determination and ambition, CPT Hampton rapidly rose through the ranks in the almost all-male bastion of military aviation to command a combat aviation troop.

Everyone who knew CPT Hampton seemed to have a story about her. She was a friend to everyone. “She was doing what she enjoyed doing. She was trained well, and she felt it an honor to serve her country,” said her mom, Ann.
CPT Hampton is survived by her parents, Dale and Ann Hampton.