PAVE LOW Aerial Gunner
Kurt Upton
Kurt Joseph Upton, SSgt
Kurt Upton (1974 – 1999) served as a PAVE LOW aerial gunner and was lost in the line of duty on 3 June 1999.
- Rank
- SSgt
- Position
- Aerial Gunner
- Born
- March 19th, 1974
- Died
- June 3rd, 1999
- Age
- 25
- Lost in the line of duty
- 3 June 1999MH-53J68-0364
Kurt Upton was a U.S. Air Force Aerial Gunner born in Nauvoo, Illinois, who died at the age of 25 on June 3, 1999. He was assigned to the 20th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Florida, and was serving as the gunner on an MH-53J Pave Low helicopter, tail# 68-10364, when it crashed during a training mission near Camp Mackall, North Carolina.
Upton sustained severe brain and internal injuries in the accident, which occurred late on June 2, 1999, and he passed away around 5 a.m. the following morning at Fort Bragg’s Womack Army Medical Center. While the other five crew members survived the crash with only minor injuries, Upton was the sole fatality; the helicopter was on a routine special operations training mission when it “dusted out” and crashed while attempting to land.
He was the son of Kenneth R. and Rose Mary (McBride) Upton, brothers Keith Upton and Kenneth J. Upton (1967-1995), and was survived by his wife, Katherine, and their son, Kollin. Upton is buried at Saints Peter and Paul Cemetery in Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois, where he is honored on memorials dedicated to the USAF Rotorheads and the Special Forces Roll of Honour.
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