Politics & Government
Gorham Preparing Solemn Goodbye Saturday For Staff Sgt. Tanner Grone
Update: Staff Sgt. Tanner Grone will be honored with full military honors at Gorham-Middle High School Nov. 25 where he graduated in 2016.
GORHAM, NH — It will be a solemn day in Gorham on Nov. 25 as funeral services for Army Staff Sgt. Tanner W. Grone will be held, with full military honors at Gorham-Middle High School where he graduated in 2016.
The 26-year-old, assigned to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky, died Nov. 10 with four other soldiers when the helicopter they were in experienced an “in-flight emergency” and crashed into the waters of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, according to a news release from the Department of Defense.
Find out what's happening in Across New Hampshirefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The crew was assigned to the region since the Hamas attacks on Israel Oct. 7 and was performing a routine refueling mission when the helicopter went down.
His parents, Steve and Erica Grone of Gorham, were at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware earlier today when their son’s flag-draped coffin was returned to U.S. soil and honored in a dignified transfer.
Find out what's happening in Across New Hampshirefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Gorham Police said the details of the funeral were still being worked on Tuesday morning and that no time for the service had yet been established, but the location of the event will be on Main Street at the Middle-High School.
Others killed in the helicopter crash include Sgt. Cade M. Wolfe, 24 or Mankato, Minnesota; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Shane M. Barnes, 34, of Sacramento, Calif.; Chief Warrant Officer 3 Stephen R. Dwyer, 38, of Clarksville, Tenn.; and Sgt. Andrew P. Southward, 27, of Apache Junction, Arizona.
Grone was well known in this small mountain town, and loved to snowboard at nearby Wildcat Mountain, friends said, and in his earlier days played local sports at the high school.
He attended UNH for one year but enlisted in 2017 and had been deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq but told his family that this would be his last deployment, that he was looking forward to becoming a helicopter pilot.
Gov. Chris Sununu said the bravery of Grone and his fellow fallen soldiers will not be forgotten.
This story was originally published by InDepth NH.
