Fallen copter pilot called an inspiration to many

CW5 Ret. Hinchman (Submitted photo)

Sonny Hinchman was an inspiration. He always thought of others and doing the right thing was the law he lived by.

Those are a few of the words used by Kirk Hinchman to describe his youngest brother William F. "Sonny" Hinchman -- who was killed in a helicopter crash in Iraq last Friday.

"You never heard him talk about himself," Kirk said. "It was always how are you."

Sonny left his hometown of Worthington after graduating mid-term in 1984 and joined the Army at the age of 17. He started in the Warrant Officer program and then entered flight school.

"At 17 he was flying," Kirk said. "His passion was flying."

Sonny, a helicopter pilot, retired from the Army last March. At that point, he already had two tours of Iraq under his belt.

"It was tough for the family when he went overseas. It was real tough this last time...," Kirk explained. "He met with all the family and everyone asked why are you going back."

CW5 Ret. Hinchman was still under 120 days of active military service when he started working as a helicopter pilot for Xe Services -- formerly known as Blackwater.

"He was very good at what he did...," Kirk said. "He was there to protect the diplomats."

Sonny believed that the only way to get the troops back home was to stabilize Iraq.

"It wasn't are you a civilian or a contractor. It was are you working for the right goal," he added. "The soul of Sonny was 'Is this the right thing to do'. Sonny always did the right thing."

And he never talked about his military accomplishments.

"He had lots of medals. There were two huge sections of medals in his discharge papers, he never told me about them," Kirk said.

A long-standing military tradition is deeply embedded in the Hinchman family.

"We grew up around a lot of vets...," Kirk said. "Vets are good people to be around."

Even when he returned home to Greene County, Sonny made a point to stop by the local American Legion and VFW to thank a vet.

Sonny also knew diplomats, politicians and people in general have agendas, he added.

"He knew people were against the war. He didn't like it, but he also knew that's their freedom," Kirk stressed. "Sonny was fighting for their freedom to object to something but he was also fighting for everyone of us."

Sonny was also very close to his family and would make unannounced appearances to graduations and other family functions.

"He never showed up to teach us something. He showed up to learn from you. But, you always ended up learning from him," Kirk said.

The conversations were always about you and your family.

"That was typical Sonny. Caring and compassionate," he added.

Sonny called his mom, Nina Hinchman of Worthington, every week.

"He knew it's not about receiving. It's not about glories. It's about doing the right thing. It's about helping people...," Kirk added. "He made everyone special -- which made him special."

Few details are known about the crash that took Sonny's life.

"Not much is known about his death," Kirk said.

But, mechanical problems have been cited.

"We don't know the circumstances ...it'll take three to six months for the report," he added.

But, the family does know that Sonny was instrumental in the development of helicopters.

"He was about helicopters. Kiowas, Black Hawks, Cobras. His favorite was the Little Bird. That's what he was killed in a Little Bird," Kirk said.

He also served as an instructor and test pilot.

"Sonny said he was flying his butt off over there (Iraq) the last time he was there," Kirk said.

While he was in the Army he would fly 12 to 14 hours a day and still find time to Facebook with his nieces and nephews.

"He would communicate with everybody and be so upbeat and happy in a hard situation," Kirk stressed.

Sonny also had three step-sons that he considered his own -- Logan, Tanner and Cooper Brock, of Copperas Cove, Texas.

Sonny became a big football fan because of the boys.

"The boys are heavy into football...Every Saturday morning during football season Sonny would cook breakfast for the football players. The whole team...," Kirk said. "The kids called him Mr. Sonny."

Even though Sonny's gone, it's still like he's teaching a lesson to everyone, Kirk added.

"It's a fundamentally great story. Sonny went from a small community to a world platform. He was known everywhere for his compassion," Kirk said. "He made a friend no matter where he was."