Brian Allgood remembered

He is a great loss for the military, but no comparison to the hole he leaves in the hearts of his family here in Colorado Springs. Colonel Brian Allgood was killed in what's being called one of the deadliest helicopter crashes since the start of the war in Iraq. He was the top U.S. surgeon in Iraq, and will be desperately missed by his family.

"It gives you the most empty feeling you could ever have and maybe that will soften in time, but that will be a long time." Brian's mother Cleo knows a long road of healing lies ahead for her family. For his retired military father, Gerry, it's a familiar situation with a whole knew emotion. "I had sent so many kids back to their families. I never felt what it was like until it was our own son."

Brian followed in his father's footsteps. However, seeing death as a surgeon in Korea never could have prepared Gerry for the loss of his son. He says Brian could be described in two ways: hard working and humble. "He would win some honor and we wouldn't even hear about it," says mother Cleo. The first time they found out how well he was doing as a student at West Point was at a football game, as his father remembers well. "The Key Staff marched on and he was on the Key Staff," which is a position reserved for leaders, something Brian proved himself to be as head of the hospital at West Point, then in Korea.

He earned a list of accolades, medals of service and humanitarian awards too numerous to list, all before heading medical operations in Iraq. It was a tour his mother was sad to hear about. "When he told me that was his assignment, I said ‘that's one place I won't be able to visit you.' I visited him every other place he'd been stationed." Her visits included Korea and Panama with the Ranger Battalion during Operation Just Cause, one she remembers with fear. "They were shooting at him as they were coming down. That's about as scary as you can get I think."

As for his father, pride and appreciation outweigh sadness. "I was happy he followed my footsteps. Being a soldier and being a good one," but with tears in his eyes, he can't help but feel the loss. "He was a great son."

Allgood's wife and 11-year-old son, Wyatt, were waiting for him in Germany where he was due to be stationed this summer. They'll be returning to the U.S. for his memorial service, set for Friday February 2nd at Fort Carson.

From KRDO 13

Related Link:
Brian D. Allgood killed in helicopter crash