Dylan Elchin didn’t tell his Mom until he graduated from Hopewell Highschool about his plans to join the special services.
He was assigned to the 26th Special Tactics Squadron, based at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico.
According to a KDKA interview Dylan‘s mom Dawna Duez said“I didn’t know he was jumping out of planes and diving underwater, and all the things he was doing,”
Elchin, a Hookstown native, was one of three service members killed Tuesday in Afghanistan as the result of a roadside bomb that detonated in Andar in the Ghazni Province of Afghanistan.
When he was deployed to Afghanistan in support of OPERATION Freedom’s Sentinel, his Mom said, “I didn’t want him to go. He said, ‘Mom, I’ll be okay,’” Dawna said, ‘Dylan, if anything happens to you, it will destroy me.’ He said, ‘Mom, I’ll be fine,’ with a big smile on his face, ‘I’ll be fine.’ I said, ‘It’s in God’s hands now.” When he left out that door I hugged him,
Lt. Col. Gregory Walsh, commander of the 26th Special Tactics Squadron, said in a statement from the United States Air Force: “Dylan had an unusual drive to succeed and contribute to the team. He displayed maturity and stoicism beyond his years, and was always level-headed, no matter the situation. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Dylan’s family, fiancé, and friends. He will be sorely missed, but never forgotten.”