SALT LAKE CITY — The happiness McKenzie Fuchigami felt while preparing a package for her Army pilot husband in Afghanistan turned to shock just a few days later when two soldiers knocked on her door in the middle of the night.
“I still feel like I’m in shock,” she said Friday. “I never expected to be a widow at 26 years old, but I know he was meant to be called home.”
The remains of Chief Warrant Officer 2 Kirk T. Fuchigami Jr., 25, arrived at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Thursday after he and his co-pilot died Wednesday when their helicopter crashed as they provided security for troops on the ground in Logar Province in eastern Afghanistan.
McKenzie Fuchigami is from the small town of Corinne in Box Elder County, and she said she plans to return to Utah. She wants to bury her husband in the state, likely at the Veterans Cemetery and Memorial Park in Bluffdale near Camp Williams.
“I want to be able to visit him,” she said. “I want him close to me, to be able to see him whenever I can.”
Funeral services are pending, but won’t be held until the week after next, she said.
President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, traveled to Dover to offer condolences to the families of Fuchigami and Chief Warrant Officer 2 David C. Knadle, 33, who also died in the crash. McKenzie Fuchigami flew to the base for the dignified transfer of her husband’s remains.
Knadle, of Tarrant, Texas, and Fuchigami, of Keaau, Hawaii, were stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. The two men were good friends, McKenzie Fuchigami said, adding Knadle’s family is also in her prayers.
Both soldiers were Apache helicopter pilots assigned to 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division. Fuchigami entered active duty in May 2017.
McKenzie Fuchigami said she was able to FaceTime with her husband about once a day and he was good about texting her and keeping her updated on where he was so she wouldn’t worry. He told her he was headed out a mission the night he was killed.
“The last thing he said to me was ‘I love you so much’ and sent me a heart,” she said.
The knock at her door came at 1 a.m.
“My heart and world is completely shattered to tell you that my husband, Kirk Takeshi Fuchigami Jr. has been called back home,” McKenzie Fuchigami wrote in a Facebook post.
“He was and is a strong, courageous soldier and loyal husband. Eight months of marriage with him was the best months of my life. He taught me so much about love and respect. I’m blessed to have been loved by him so fiercely. We still have eternity babe, can’t get off that easy.”
McKenzie Fuchigami said her sister set her up on a blind date with Kirk Fuchigami while she was visiting her in Alabama where he was in flight school. They were married in April.
“It’s so easy with him. He made it so easy because he was as perfect as a husband could be. He treated me so well,” she said.
Kirk Fuchigami always wanted to be a pilot, she said. He loved his country and his religion. He was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served as a missionary in Japan. She said he would want everyone to find comfort in whatever religion they practice and to turn to the Lord.
Lt. Col. Adam Camarano, commander of the 1-227th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion, offered his condolences to the soldiers’ families and friends.
“Chief Warrant Officer 2 Knadel and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Fuchigami will always be remembered as a part of the heroic legacy of the 1st Cavalry Division, forged by the sacrifices of brave cavalry troopers who have laid down their lives in defense of freedom,” Camarano said in a statement.
The Taliban claimed to have shot down the helicopter in a statement Wednesday. However, Fawad Aman, Afghan Defense Ministry deputy spokesman, denied the claim and said the crash occurred due to a technical problem with the aircraft, according to Stars and Stripes.
The crash destroyed the helicopter, which was participating in a night raid, said Deedar Lawang, a Logar province spokesman.
Contributing: Garna Mejia