FRANKLIN — The family of Army Capt. Bartt D. Owens took grim satisfaction Saturday that he was doing what he loved best when the helicopter he was piloting crashed Friday morning in the Philippines.

Owens

        The 1990 graduate of Franklin High School in Warren County was taking part in anti-terrorism exercises with Filipino troops when his MH-47E Chinook caught fire before plunging into the Bohol Sea.

        “He loves his country,” said his wife, Leah, 29, as she held their oldest daughter, Megan, 4, on the sofa of her parents' Franklin home Saturday afternoon.

        “Fourth of July was one of his favorite holidays. If he could have chosen how to die, he would have chosen to be serving his country and flying his helicopter.”

        Capt. Owens, 30, seven other soldiers of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, based in Fort Campbell, Ky., and two Air Force para-rescue jumpers are presumed dead.

        Three bodies were recovered shortly after the pre-dawn crash near the tiny island of Apo. Since then, rescue workers have found only pieces of the helicopter that witnesses say was on fire as it fell from the sky and exploded when it hit the water.

        The cause of the crash is unknown, but the Philippine military ruled out hostile fire.

        Capt. Owens' family does not know if his is one of the bodies found but they clung Saturday to the faint hope he may still be alive. If he is dead, he leaves behind another daughter, Lauren, 2, who has his red hair.

        “They're still searching,” said Mrs. Owens, a registered nurse at Kettering Hospital. “I guess there's always that little bit of hope. We are just waiting. That's the worst part.”

        Capt. Owens is one of three soldiers with Tristate ties:

        • Chief Warrant Officer 2nd Class Jody L. Egnor, 32, grew up in Liberty Township in Butler County and graduated from Lakota High School in 1988. His wife lives near Clarksville, Tenn., where Mr. Egnor was stationed out of Fort Campbell.

        His parents still live in Liberty Township. The family has not received official word about Mr. Egnor and declined comment Saturday evening.

        • Air Force Master Sgt. William “Bub” McDaniel III, 36, of Fort Jefferson, Darke County, was also on board. His mother, Sheila McDaniel of Fort Jefferson, said her son was one of the two para-rescue jumpers aboard the Chinook.

        An Army colonel broke the news to Capt. Owens' relatives early Friday, said Steve Robison, his father-in-law. Mrs. Owens and their two children have been staying with the Robisons while Capt. Owens was deployed overseas.

        Neighbors brought the family flowers and displayed small American flags in a show of support.

        While at Franklin High, he was a member of the National Honor Society, earned a 4.66 grade point average and graduated in the top 2 percent of his class. He also served as senior class president, ran cross country and track and played on the golf team. “We always kidded him about being president someday,” said Libby Abele, his senior honors government teacher.

        Capt. Owens dreamed of serving in the military since the ninth grade and eventually hoped to be elected a congressman or senator, said his mother, Penny Owens Taylor, 63, of Middletown.

        Capt. Owens grew up in Hunter, Ohio, and graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1994. Shortly after graduating from West Point, Capt. Owens married Mrs. Owens, his high school sweetheart and the only girl he ever dated.

        The young family endured long separations as Capt. Owens' military career pulled him away for special assignments and training, Mrs. Owens said. He was accepted into Special Forces in 1999 and attended Airborne School.

        He completed it with a little help from his late father, Ronald, who died of a heart attack when Capt. Owens was just 11.

        “He had to parachute out of an airplane,” Mrs. Owens Taylor said, “and when he looked out, he felt eerie to jump. He said he turned around and knew his dad was with him. When he came home, he took his pin from airborne school and put it on his dad's grave.”

        Capt. Owens's last trip home was during a month's leave in September. He ran in the Chicago Marathon and when he bade his family farewell at Dayton Airport, they could barely tear themselves away from one another.

        His family vowed Saturday to keep his daughters' hearts alive with their father's joyful memory. He often read to the girls before tucking them into bed, helped them with gymnastics and loved to roll around the floor wrestling with them, Mrs. Owens said.

        “He called Christmas Eve and said, "Mom, you don't have to talk,'” Mrs. Owens Taylor recalled. “"I just want to listen to what the girls sound like when they open their gifts.' The sad part is, they're not going to remember him.”

        Said Mrs. Owens: “It's a terrible thing for the girls. I don't think they realize what's going on. They keep asking me, "Why are you crying, Mommy?' Lauren was using her play phone today and said, "I'm calling Daddy.'”
       Enquirer reporter Richelle Thompson and the Associated Press contributed.
       

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