Funeral services are scheduled Friday in Colorado for a Massachusetts Air National Guard pilot who was killed in a plane crash five weeks ago.
Lieutenant Colonel Morris “Moose” Fontenot Jr. was an instructor pilot and inspector general at the 104th Fighter Wing at Barnes Air National Guard Base in Westfield. He died on August 27 when his F-15C jet crashed in Virginia. Wing spokesman Colonel Pete Green says Fontenot will be buried in Colorado Springs, according to the wishes of his widow.
“The Air Force Academy is the place where they met, and Mrs. Fontenot felt very strongly that that’s the place that should be his final resting place,” says Green.
Several members of the 104th, including Wing commander Colonel James Keefe, are attending the burial service. Green says the investigation into the crash that killed Fontenot is ongoing. Meanwhile, Governor Deval Patrick has ordered that all flags at state buildings and military installations across Massachusetts be lowered to half-staff Friday in honor of Fontenot.
This story was originally published at New England Public Radio, nepr.net.