Copter crash claims LDS pilot
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A Church member died Jan. 7 near Tal Afar, Iraq, when the UH-60 Black Hawk Helicopter she was piloting crashed.
Killed was: 1st Lt. Jaime Krausse Campbell, 25, of Ephrata, Wash.
Sister Campbell was among eight U.S. soldiers and four civilians who died in the helicopter crash while supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. At press time, the crash remained under investigation, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.
Sister Campbell's husband and fellow Church member, Army Capt. Sam Campbell, was also deployed in Iraq when his wife was killed. Brother Campbell had been serving in an area about 40 miles from where Sister Campbell was stationed. He escorted his wife's body home to the United States, according to his sister, Jamie Campbell Beecher.
A convert to the Church, Sister Campbell grew up in a military family. She served as student body president at Washington's Ephrata High School. A skilled equestrian, she had also represented the Evergreen State as a rodeo queen, according to the Wenatchee World.
Sister Campbell's mother, Miki Krausse, told the Associated Press her daughter did her best in all her many activities.
"She was as beautiful inside as she was outside," Mrs. Krausse said.
Jaime Krausse met her future husband, Sam Campbell, at the National High School Rodeo Finals. Years later they were reunited during advanced military training after each had finished college. The two dated and eventually married. Sister Beecher called the couple "a good fit" who enjoyed adventure and the opportunities military life afforded.
While stationed with her husband in Missouri, Sister Campbell began taking the missionary discussions. "She read the Book of Mormon and decided right then that she wanted to be baptized," Sister Beecher said.
Sister Campbell was baptized by her husband. Last August, the couple was sealed in the Salt Lake Temple.
The Campbells' temple marriage "brought great strength to the both of them," Sister Beecher said.
Sister Campbell's father, Jeff Krause, told the Wenatchee World that the last time he heard his daughter's voice was when she called to wish everyone a happy New Year. "She said she loved us and missed us and couldn't wait to come home."
Funeral services for the soldier are expected to be conducted in Ephrata, Wash.
