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Keaau soldier killed in Afghanistan laid to rest with full military honors

By Associated Press | Tuesday, December 10, 2019, 12:05 a.m.

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Family members of Chief Warrant Officer 2 Kirk T. Fuchigami Jr. look up as Apache helicopters fly over graveside services at Brigham City Cemetery, Monday, Dec. 9, 2019, in Brigham, Utah. From front, left to right: Kirk Fuchigami, father; Jana Lee Hunsaker Norman, mother-in-law; McKenzie Norman Fuchigami, wife; and Lisa Marie Casey, mother. United States Army pilot Fuchigami and his co-pilot died when their helicopter crashed Nov. 20 as they provided security for troops on the ground in eastern Logar Province outside of Kabul. Afghanistan. (Steve Griffin/The Deseret News via AP) ▲
The flag-draped casket of CW2 Kirk T. Fuchigami Jr. arrives at Brigham City Cemetery during graveside services Monday, Dec. 9, 2019, in Brigham City, Utah. United States Army pilot Fuchigami and his co-pilot died when their helicopter crashed Nov. 20 as they provided security for troops on the ground in eastern Logar Province outside of Kabul. Afghanistan. (Steve Griffin/The Deseret News via AP) ▲
McKenzie Norman Fuchigami, wife of CW2 Kirk T. Fuchigami Jr., holds a United States flag that was draped over her husband's casket and a photo of her and her husband during graveside services at Brigham City Cemetery, Monday, Dec. 9, 2019, in Brigham City, Utah. United States Army pilot Fuchigami and his co-pilot died when their helicopter crashed Nov. 20 as they provided security for troops on the ground in eastern Logar Province outside of Kabul. Afghanistan. (Steve Griffin/The Deseret News via AP) ▲
Apache helicopters fly over graveside services for CW2 Kirk Fuchigami Jr. at Brigham City Cemetery, Monday, Dec. 9, 2019, in Brigham City, Utah. United States Army pilot Fuchigami and his co-pilot died when their helicopter crashed Nov. 20 as they provided security for troops on the ground in eastern Logar Province outside of Kabul. Afghanistan. (Steve Griffin/The Deseret News via AP) ▲
McKenzie Norman Fuchigami, wife of Chief Warrant Officer 2 Kirk T. Fuchigami Jr., rests her hand on her husband's casket during graveside services at the Brigham City Cemetery in Utah on Monday, Dec. 9, 2019. Fuchigami and his co-pilot died when their helicopter crashed as they provided security for troops on the ground in Logar Province in eastern Afghanistan. (Steve Griffin/The Deseret News via AP) ▲
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BRIGHAM CITY, Utah — Hundreds of people in northern Utah including the Patriot Guard, military personnel and law enforcement officials attended the funeral service and burial of a 25-year-old Army helicopter pilot killed in a crash in Afghanistan.

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Kirk Fuchigami Jr. was one of two Army pilots killed in the Nov. 20 crash while providing aerial security to ground troops in eastern Logar Province outside of Kabul.

Fuchigami was laid to rest with full military honors Monday at Brigham City Cemetery including a 21-gun salute and a military aircraft flyover.

Officials say his widow and parents received the folded flags and spent casings from the 21-gun salute.

Fuchigami was a native of Keaau on the Big Island. His wife, McKenzie Norman, is from Utah.

Fuchigami was assigned to a 1st Cavalry Division aviation unit from Fort Hood, Texas. He graduated from Rancho High School in Clark County, Nevada, participating in its aviation program.

According to his obituary, he was one of the youngest people in the school’s history to get a pilot’s license.

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