SC Army pilot killed in GA crash hailed as leader

SPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina native who died in an Army helicopter crash this week is being remembered as a youthful leader with a magnetic personality.

Friends and teachers of 30-year-old Capt. John David Hortman told the Herald Journal of Spartanburg (http://bit.ly/qUT6T2) the Byrnes High School graduate and Bronze Star recipient had an honest and caring nature.

The Army said Hortman and another Army pilot died Monday when their light attack helicopter crashed on a live-fire range at Fort Benning in west Georgia during an exercise with Army Rangers and other special operations troops.

The Inman native was student body president when he graduated.

Byrnes teacher Wanda Moss says Hortman was a remarkable young man who told her on a recent trip home that he’d never stop learning and training.

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Information from: Herald-Journal, http://www.goupstate.com/