Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Matthew Kelley

Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Matthew Grafton Kelley, 30, of Cameron, Missouri, was an OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter pilot assigned to Bravo Troop, 6th Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division, based at Fort Drum, New York. He died on January 26, 2009, near Kirkuk, Iraq, when two Kiowa Warriors collided while evading a surface-to-air improvised explosive device during a recovery mission.

Born in Frankfurt, Germany, CW2 Kelley grew up in a military family. Fascinated with aviation from age nine, he read extensively about World War II aircraft and dreamed of becoming a professional pilot. He enlisted in the Army, completed infantry and airborne training at Fort Benning, Georgia, and joined the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. After serving an Iraq tour as an airborne infantryman, he graduated from Warrant Officer Flight Training and became a Kiowa pilot.

W2 Kelley was remembered as a devoted husband and father, a man of Christian faith and someone who lived firmly according to his convictions. His brother said that while the country had lost a hero, he had lost his best friend.

CW2 Kelley was survived by his wife and two children.