AW2 John N. Kaye, III HSL-48  SH-60B BUNO: Unknown Born: July 26, 1983 Died: December 13, 2005 Hometown: Traer and Waterloo, IA

Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier
Colombia's ocean search fails to find wreckage of U.S. Navy helicopter in which Waterloo sailor died
December 20, 2005
By the Associated Press
BOGOTA, Colombia -- A Colombian deep-sea search vessel has failed to locate the wreckage of a U.S. Navy helicopter that crashed in the Caribbean and killed an Iowa native during an anti-drug operation, officials said Monday.
All three American sailors aboard the SH-60B Seahawk were killed when the helicopter went down Dec. 13 shortly after takeoff from the U.S. Navy frigate DeWert. The cause of the crash is being investigated.
Those killed were identified as Lt. Christopher H. Snyder, 28, pilot, of Hartford, Ky.; Lt. Nicolas J. Juron, 25, pilot, of Lexington Park, Md.; and Aviation Warfare Systems Operator Second Class John N. Kaye III, 22, of Waterloo, Iowa.
To help the U.S. Navy with the search, Colombia sent an oceanographic survey ship to the accident site, about 400 miles west of the Colombian port of Buenaventura. The ship can provide three-dimensional type images of the ocean floor.
But after two days of searching, the ship "found absolutely nothing," and left the area Sunday morning, said Adm. Guillermo Barrera, operations chief of the Colombian navy.
Part of the difficulty was the depth of the ocean at the crash area, nearly two miles, Barrera said.
The Colombian official said several U.S. ships remain in the area, but that he did not know whether they were continuing the search.
A U.S. Navy spokesman declined to comment.
The frigate that was the helicopter's base is part of a unit that usually carries out anti-drug missions in international waters. No distress call was received before the accident, the U.S. Navy said last week.

South Florida Sun Sentinel
Deep-sea search set for helicopter crew
December 16, 2005
By Associated Press
BOGOTA, Colombia The U.S. and Colombian navies will conduct a deep-sea search for wreckage of a U.S. helicopter that crashed during an anti-drug operation off Colombia's Pacific coast, killing three U.S. crew members aboard, officials said Thursday.
Those killed were identified in a Navy statement Thursday as: pilot Lt. Christopher H. Snyder, 28, of Plainsboro, N.J.; pilot Lt. Nicolas J. Juron, 25, of Lexington Park, Md.; and Aviation Warfare Systems Operator Second Class John N. Kaye III, 22, of Waterloo, Iowa.
The helicopter, a Seahawk, went down early Tuesday after taking off from the frigate USS DeWert, the U.S. Navy said. The cause of the crash remains under investigation and the bodies have not been recovered, it said.
A special ship with equipment to take photographs of the ocean floor will arrive today to help investigate the accident, the head of the Colombian navy, Adm. Mauricio Soto, said.
"The U.S. Navy greatly appreciates the immediate response of the Colombian navy to this tragic accident," said Lt. Jon Spiers, spokesman for the Naval Forces Southern Command in Mayport. "The assistance of an oceanographic survey ship will prove most helpful."
An attempt to rescue the missing sailors was called off Tuesday night after an extensive search by both countries' navies.
The Navy said it received no distress call before the crash.

Des Moines Register
Iowan killed in Navy helicopter crash
December 15, 2005
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
An Iowa sailor killed in a Navy helicopter crash off the Colombian coast was being remembered Wednesday as a popular friend and avid hunter who extended his tour of duty so another sailor could be with his family.
John Kaye III, 22, was on a helicopter that crashed Tuesday in the Pacific Ocean during anti-drug operations, his uncle, Bob Van Erem, said Wednesday.
‘‘They took off from the ship and the helicopter went down — a mechanical failure,’’ Van Erem said. ‘‘They haven’t recovered anything except for pieces.’’
The SH-60B Seahawk helicopter went down within sight of the frigate USS DeWert, which was its floating base.
Kaye, whose father died a year ago from a brain injury, was scheduled to get out of the Navy next week, Van Erem said.
He extended his tour to include Tuesday’s mission so another sailor, who was to have been on the helicopter, could be with his own family after his brother was shot, Van Erem said.
Van Erem said Kaye’s mother, Teresa, first heard of the crash on a CNN report on her computer at work.
‘‘She knew John was on that ship and that he was on that helicopter,’’ Van Erem said. ‘‘Her friends grabbed her and brought her home.’’
Kaye, a 2001 graduate of North Tama High School, had planned to return to college, Van Erem said.
‘‘He was a very intelligent person,’’ his uncle said.
Van Erem said Kaye was one of the youngest people to ever graduate from the Navy’s search and rescue program.
The training Kaye received as a rescue swimmer gave family hope that maybe he survived.
‘‘At first I couldn’t believe it,’’ Van Erem said. ‘‘I was hoping beyond hope that with their training they were able to get out of that helicopter.’’
A Navy search team was on the scene within five minutes of the crash and remained on the scene for 12 hours, Van Erem said. The Navy has called off the search for the sailors.
Kaye’s mother is planning on attending a memorial service next week at the crew’s homeport in Mayport, Fla., Van Erem said.
He said there were no immediate plans for a service in Iowa.
Kaye’s death has stunned his family.
‘‘We have a large family and we haven’t lost any of our children,’’ Van Erem said, adding that Kaye’s mother is the first to lose a child.
‘‘It just kind of makes you dead,’’ Van Erem said.
He said Kaye played football in high school, but loved to hunt, fish and hang out with his friends.
‘‘He loved Iowa, I know that,’’ Van Erem said. ‘‘He couldn’t wait to get back.’’

Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier
Family mourns Navy son lost at sea
December 15, 2005
By JESSICA MILLER, Courier Staff Writer
WATERLOO --- An American flag hangs proudly from the house on Moir Street, dwarfing the blue star in the window. Vehicles crowded the driveway of Teresa Kaye's home after they learned her son, John Kaye III, died when a U.S. Navy helicopter crashed Tuesday during an anti-drug operation off the Colombian coast.
Inside, Teresa Kaye held a picture of her late son, showing him standing before the SH-60B Seahawk helicopter just days earlier. Teresa Kaye said John, an aviation warfare specialist 2nd class, always checked the box on his preflight papers that said if the helicopter went down, he would go with it.
"He was search and rescue. He would never jump from the helicopter," Teresa Kaye said.
John Kaye, 22, was the third man on a Seahawk that crashed into the ocean 350 miles from Colombia for unknown reasons. The Associated Press reported the helicopter sent no distress signals. It was within view of the USS DeWert, its base ship, when it plummeted.
Teresa Kaye was working at GMAC when she received an e-mail news alert about the crash.
"I knew it was him right away. I couldn't breathe," she said.
Her friends brought her home, said Bob Van Erem, John Kaye's uncle, who shares a home with Teresa.
She called a friend of John's, who said members of the Helicopter Anti-Submarine Light 48 out of Mayport, Fla., were involved. Thirty minutes later the Navy was at Teresa Kaye's door.
Officers said they were searching for the sailors. But after nearly 13 hours the search was called off. The Navy told Teresa Kaye John and the two pilots are considered lost at sea.
"There's no more honorable way to go than to die for your country," said John's sister, Natasha Finzen, 24, of Traer.
His friends and teachers remember John Kaye as a warm person who brought others together.
John attended Waterloo schools until ninth grade when the Kaye family moved to Traer. He graduated from North Tama High School in 2001.
He joined the North Tama Football team his junior and senior years of high school.
"He practiced everyday and did whatever he could to help us out as team," said former coach Doug Gee of Waterloo.
Friends Josh Rausch and Brock Wilson encouraged him to join the team, Gee said.
"He was the backbone of a lot of friendships," Rausch, of Lincoln, said.
And John's homecomings always signaled a get-together. Rausch and his family had been planning another one for later this month.
John was scheduled to get out of the Navy on Dec. 22, and had signed up for college courses to begin in January. He extended his tour in the Navy to include Tuesday's mission so another sailor, who was to have been on the helicopter, could care for his brother.
"He wanted to do it," Teresa Kaye, said.
John's fellow sailors had covered for him when he took a leave of absence to care for his father, John Kaye II, who died from a brain tumor in October 2004.
John, though, planned to return to Iowa in May.
"He told everyone, (Iowa) is God's country," Teresa Kaye said.
John took part in anti-drug missions for the Navy. The Seahawk would locate boats transporting drugs and chase them down.
"He loved it," Teresa Kaye said. "He loved it."
A memorial service will be held Monday in Mayport, Fla., for John Kaye and the other two sailors. The U.S. Navy has not released their names.

Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier
Traer/Waterloo native dies in Navy 'copter crash
December 14, 2005
By Courier Staff and, the Associated Press
WATERLOO --- One of three men aboard a U.S. Navy helicopter, which crashed Tuesday off the Colombian coast, is a Traer and Waterloo native.
John Kaye III, 22, served as a rescue Navy swimmer. His family said this morning they believe Kaye died in the crash. Kaye was born in Waterloo and attended North Tama High School in Traer.
The SH-60B Seahawk helicopter went down about 4 a.m. central time. It was within sight of the frigate USS DeWert, said Bill Austin, U.S. Naval Station at Mayport, Fla. spokesman, where the helicopter is based.
"The helicopter didn't transmit any kind of distress call that we know of," Austin said, adding that the helicopter was conducting normal operations at the time of the crash.
He said he did not know how far the helicopter was from the ship when it went down, or whether it had just taken off or was returning.
The Colombian navy sent a marine patrol plane to join in the U.S. Navy's search for the sailors, said Colombian Adm. Jairo Pena, commander of Colombia's Pacific fleet.
"We received the report that it fell to the water inexplicably," Pena said.
He said the DeWert is part of a unit that usually carries out anti-drug missions in international waters.
Colombia is the world's largest cocaine producer and a major supplier of heroin to the United States.
The crew members were assigned to the Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light 48 based in Mayport, the U.S. Navy said in a statement, but did not say what they were doing in the area.

Associated Press
Navy helicopter crashes off Colombia
Colombia joins search for U.S. Navy helicopter
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- A U.S. Navy helicopter crashed in the Pacific Ocean off Colombia with three aboard Tuesday, and the Colombian navy joined a search for the missing crew members, U.S. and Colombian officials said.
The SH-60B Seahawk helicopter was within sight of the frigate USS DeWert when it went down in the eastern Pacific, said Bill Austin, a spokesman for the U.S. Naval Station at Mayport, Florida, where the troops were based.
"The helicopter didn't transmit any kind of distress call that we know of," Austin said, adding that the helicopter was conducting normal operations at the time of the crash.
He said he did not know how far the helicopter was from the ship when it went down, or whether it had just taken off or was returning.
The Colombian navy sent a marine patrol plane to join in the U.S. Navy's search, said Colombian Adm. Jairo Pena, commander of Colombia's Pacific fleet.
"We received the report that it fell to the water inexplicably," Pena said, adding that the accident occurred about 5 a.m., but that by Tuesday afternoon, the search still had been fruitless.
He said the DeWert is part of a unit that usually carries out anti-drug missions in international waters. "We are searching in a zone about 350 miles from the Colombian coast," off the port of Buenaventura, Pena said.
Colombia is the world's largest cocaine producer and a major supplier of heroin to the United States.
The crew members were assigned to the Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron Light 48 based in Mayport, the U.S. Navy said in a statement, but did not say what they were doing in the area.
Navy aircraft often fly counter-drug missions off ships in the area.
The U.S. has been helping the Colombian police and military battle the country's drug gangs and have made several major arrests in recent years. The Pacific coast of Colombia is a popular haven for drug smugglers, particularly from the Ecuador border up toward Buenaventura, where there are few roads and many inland waterways.
Since 2000, the United States has spent $4 billion for "Plan Colombia," a joint U.S.-Colombia anti-drug program. The United States provides the Colombian government with training, equipment and other aid under the project.
U.S.-made helicopter crashes in Colombia generally have involved U.S.-donated helicopters flown by Colombian troops on military missions. Since 1999, six U.S.-made Black Hawks have crashed in Colombia, killing at least 67 Colombian soldiers and injuring 37.