Photo provided by H.D. Oliver Funeral Apartments, Inc.
NORFOLK, Va. – Lt. Christopher Carey Short, a resident of Chesapeake, was remembered on Saturday in Norfolk after the pilot was killed during an A-29 aircraft crash on June 22.
The U.S. Navy announced the crash was at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. Short was allegedly on a mission over the Red Rio Bombing Range, part of White Sands Missile Range, north of Holloman, when the incident occurred.
“There’s no way to describe the shock of this loss and the sadness we feel for his family,” said Col. Houston Cantwell, commander of Holloman’s 49th Wing, in a statement on Saturday. “He did pioneering work in aviation that will help shape American air power for years to come. We’re thankful to have known him and grateful for his devotion to duty.”
While the Navy says that it is still investigating the crash, family members and loved ones gathered at First Presbyterian Church of Norfolk around 11 a.m. to pay tribute and memory to the pilot who had served in the Navy since 2008.
Short grew up in Lima, New York, where he was high school valedictorian at Lima Christian School, attending Westminister College on an NROTC scholarship soon after.
Short was stationed in Hampton Roads just after 2010, where he flew F/A-18 Super Hornets at Oceana, before being stationed on the USS Harry S. Truman on deployment as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.
The 32-year-old also graduated first in his class at the Navy’s “TOPGUN” flight school, according to an obituary about him by H.D. Oliver Funeral.
Short leaves behind a wife of one year. They were expecting their first child.
