Pope memorializes Ky. Airman

KENTUCKY AIR NATIONAL GUARD, LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Tech. Sgt. Christopher A. Matero, a Kentucky combat controller who was killed in the line of duty, now has a road in his name at Pope Air Force Base, N.C.

Matero Drive, named in his honor earlier this year, is home to a new building for the Air Force Combat Control School. Before enlisting in the Kentucky Air National Guard, Sergeant Matero was an instructor at the school.

He and eight other Airmen died in a MC-130H crash during a training flight in Puerto Rico on Aug. 7, 2002.

"Chris was an excellent instructor and mentor who embodied all the qualities we seek in a modern special operations warrior," said Lt. Col. Jeremy Shoop, commander of Kentucky's 123rd Special Tactics Squadron.

Chief Master Sgt. Jon Rosa, the unit's superintendent of combat control, and other Kentucky Airmen were among more than 300 people who attended a ceremony honoring Sergeant Matero in April.

"Many of his students, now combat-hardened veterans of Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom, told of his exacting standards and high ethics -- and how he helped mold the next generation of special tactics warriors for combat against our nation's enemies," Colonel Shoop said. "His legacy lives on in those Airmen who now wear the scarlet beret."