BELLAIRS, Drew 1995-2015

BELLAIRS, HUFTALIN

Posted By: County Coordinator (kermit)
Date: 7/27/2015 at 13:21:03

#1:

Iowa airman drowns in Guam

OSAGE, IOWA - An Iowa airman drowns while swimming in Guam.

20-year-old Drew Bellairs of Osage was swimming at Marbo Cave, Mangilao, Guam on Saturday.

Bellairs was a member of the Maintenance Group, 185th Air Refueling Wing, Iowa Air National Guard based in Sioux City, Iowa.

He was serving on temporary duty while assigned to the 506th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, at the time of the accident.

Bellairs graduated from Osage High School in 2013, where he participated in chorus, band, cross country, basketball and golf.

Bellairs was a student at Iowa State University, majoring in Criminal Justice and was active in the ISU Flying Club and Skiing Club.

He enlisted in the 185th Air Refueling Wing, Iowa Air National Guard in July 2012 as an Aerospace Maintenance Journeyman.

Following graduation from Air Force Basic Training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, Bellairs attended the Aerospace Maintenance Apprentice course.

He was an aircraft mechanic and was currently assigned as a crew chief for KC-135R refueling aircraft. Bellairs had previously deployed to Japan for typhoon response.

Funeral arrangements are pending.

Source: www.KWWL.com 7/27/2015
Posted: Jul 26, 2015 7:38 PM CST Updated: Jul 26, 2015 7:38 PM CST
Written by Justin Andrews, Multimedia Journalist

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#2:

A 20-year-old airman who had been on island for less than a month died Saturday after drowning at Marbo Cave, according to the military.

Senior Airman Drew Bellairs was pronounced dead at Guam Memorial Hospital after being found unconscious at the water-filled cave Saturday afternoon, according to an Air Force statement released early Monday. The cause of death was drowning.

The airman had arrived at Andersen Air Force Base on June 30 for a temporary assignment, the Air Force said.

“It is always a tragedy when we lose a member from Team Andersen,” said Brig. Gen. Andrew Toth, Andersen 36th Wing commander. “(O)ur prayers are with (Senior Airman) Bellairs’ friends and family,” he said in a statement.

Firefighter Kevin Reilly, spokesman of the Guam Fire Department, said Saturday that the victim was unconscious and unresponsive when emergency units arrived on scene. A statement from the Air Force said Bellairs was found unconscious while swimming at the cave.

A group of hikers had made the emergency call at 2:15 p.m., and the victim’s friends were administering CPR while awaiting rescuers, Reilly said. GFD’s Advanced Life Support personnel continued CPR while transporting the victim to GMH, he said.

Capt. Joel Banjo-Johnson of 36th Wing Public Affairs said Monday investigators were still looking into the circumstances surrounding Bellairs’ death.

“Our folks are still looking into exactly how this happened,” Banjo-Johnson said.

The Des Moines Register in Iowa reported that Col. Greg Hapgood with the Iowa National Guard said Bellairs and a group of friends were swimming for fun, and that Bellairs went swimming in an air pocket and wasn’t able to get out.

Bellairs’ friends left to get scuba equipment to see if they could help the 20-year-old out of the area, but when they returned, Bellairs was unresponsive, Hapgood told the newspaper.

Reilly said Monday the victim arrived at the hospital at 3:13 p.m. Initial reports gave a later time.

Officials initially reported Bellairs’ age as 23, and later as 21. The Air Force confirmed Monday his age was 20.

The Air Force did not release Bellairs’ condition or identity until 24 hours after next of kin had been notified, as per its policy.

From Iowa

Bellairs, of Osage, Iowa, joined the Air National Guard in July 2012 and attended basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, according to the Air Force. He was deployed from the 185th Air Refueling Wing in Sioux City, Iowa, and was assigned to the 506th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron at Andersen on temporary duty. He arrived at Andersen in June.

Bellairs was born in Greeneville, South Carolonia, and graduated from Osage High School in Iowa in 2013, according to a release from the Iowa National Guard. Bellairs was pursuing a degree in criminal justice at Iowa State University.

In the Guard, he worked as an aircraft mechanic and was most recently assigned as a crew chief for KC-135R refueling aircraft, the Guard release stated. Bellairs had previously deployed to Japan for typhoon response.

According to the Air Force, some of Bellairs’ awards include the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, Air Reserve Forces Meritorious Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal.

Bellairs is survived by his father and mother, David and Beth Bellairs, sisters Jenny and Natalie Bellairs, and brother Sam Bellairs, the Guard release stated.

A memorial ceremony will be scheduled in the coming weeks, according to the Air Force.

Source: http://www.guampdn.com 7/27/2015
[S. Bell]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#3:

Obituary--

Drew Bellairs

(Died July 25, 2015)

U.S. Veteran

Drew E. Bellairs, age 20, a senior airman with the Air National Guard, died Saturday, July 25, 2015, while swimming at Marbo Cave, Mangilao, Guam. He was serving on temporary duty while assigned to the 506th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron at Anderson Air Force Base, Guam, at the time of the accident.

Funeral services will be held at 10:00 a.m. Thursday, August 6, 2015, at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Osage with Rev. Bryan Lagerstam officiating. Following the funeral service, the family will greet relatives and friends at the church. Interment will be at Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the Drew Bellairs Memorial Fund for the family’s designation to various charities and organizations.

Drew was born April 28, 1995, in Greenville, South Carolina, the son of Dave and Beth (Huftalin) Bellairs. He attended Osage Schools and graduated from Osage Community High School in 2013. He was a student at Iowa State University majoring in criminal justice. Drew enlisted in the 185th Air Refueling Wing, Iowa National Guard in July 2012. He was an aircraft mechanic and was currently assigned as a crew chief for KC-135R refueling aircraft. His awards include the Air Force Commendation Medal, Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, Air Reserve Forces Meritorious Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal and the Nuclear Deterrence Operations Service Medal.

Drew is survived by his parents, Dave (Beth) Bellairs of Osage; sisters, Jenny Bellairs of Pensacola, Florida, Natalie Bellairs of Osage; and brother, Sam Bellairs of Osage; maternal grandparents, Ray (Marge) Huftalin of Osage; and paternal grandmother, Dolores Bellairs of Clarinda.

He was preceded in death by his paternal grandfather, Dale Bellairs.

Champion-Bucheit Funeral Home (641)732-3706

Source: Champion-Bucheit Funeral Home, 31 July 2015
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#4: Casket Arrives in Osage, August 4th

OSAGE, IOWA - Many arrived early Tuesday evening – some as early as 5:30 p.m. – to line the path of the procession, to make sure those going by them could see their waves and salutes, their flags and their tears.

Some of them knew the late Drew Bellairs; some did not. But in the end, as one veteran said, it really didn’t matter.

“It’s a brotherhood,” said Lawrence Myers of Nashua. He sat with his family in a truck just off of North Seventh Street. An American flag was affixed to the hood – a large one.
Advertisement: Story Continues Below

“When something like this happens, it hits all of us,” Myers said.

Hundreds of others agreed, who lined the route along North Seventh to bring home their friend and classmate, neighbor and fellow soldier.

Bellairs, 20, a senior airman with the Air National Guard, drowned while swimming at Marbo Cave, Mangilao, Guam, on Saturday, July 25. Bellairs, a 2013 Osage High School graduate, was serving on temporary duty while assigned to the 506th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam at the time of the accident.

With their red, white and blue vehicle lights sparking the lengthening shadows of the summer evening, members of the Osage Fire Department, Mitchell County EMS, Osage Police Department, Iowa State Patrol and the Mitchell County Sheriff’s Department met and slowly led the hearse into Osage, flanked by several motorcycle riders. The hearse had traveled from the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport, where Bellairs’ casket was brought from overseas.

On the north edge of Osage, a large American flag hoisted by the Floyd Fire Department greeted the motorcade. Flags fluttered off the backs of the motorcycles and from the hands of those lining the route. Many stood with their hands on their hearts; others saluted. Many cried.

Along the Main Street intersection were other firemen and supporters who stood quietly while the hearse made its way to Champion-Bucheit Funeral Home, just south of Main Street.

The impact of Bellairs’ short life could be felt in the conversations of those who came to stand and remember before the procession began.

Retired Osage businesswoman Dorthy Sweeney knew Bellairs as a young man who “was polite and so friendly. I remember working with him at the (Fox River Mills) sock sale one year, and I remember going home and telling my husband, “that kid is going to go far.”

“I wish,” she said quietly, “that he had been able to go farther.”

Bellairs’ neighbors, Charlie and Betty Johnson, sat nearby, recalling days of watching Bellairs grow from an active youngster into manhood.

“We sat in the same pew in church,” said Betty. “We watched him grow up.”

“We thought this was the patriotic thing to do, to be here,” said Charlie.

Garrett Maakestad, Kallie Broderick and Alyssa Lee, all 16, said they wanted to pay their respects and support the Bellairs family. Maakestad said the Osage High School cross country team made a point to be at the gathering. Bellairs had been a member of the team.

The girls came, they said, because their brothers were classmates of Bellairs.

“I think it’s amazing our community came together to do this,” Broderick said.

Alex Ramon of Mason City did not know Bellairs, but “you honor people who sacrifice their lives for their country,” he said. Bernard DeWitt of Clear Lake, agreed. A former airman who also served on Guam, “you have to do this for a fallen comrade.”

Back up the street, Sweeney stood, waiting, with her grandson, Thurston Christensen, 12. She was glad he could see this display of patriotism, she said.

She looked to the north, where the crowd waiting for the procession continued to swell.

“Look at the streets,” she said. “This is what America is about. I am not sure our leaders always understand patriotism, but we do, right here in Osage, in the middle of the country, right in the guts of the country. We know all about it.”

Source: Mitchell County Press website
by Deb Nicklay Of The Press-News
4 AUG 2015