ZACHARY ‘ZAC” GREGORY ESPARZA
Zachary G. Esparza was born on 26-SEP 1986 in Dallas Texas and later lived in St. Louis Missouri. His parents were Misty Esparza-Perham and Miguel Esparza. Zachary had nine siblings. He attended Bayless High School in St. Louis graduating in 2005. After graduation Zachary attended Southeast Missouri State University. At the age of 24, Zac Esparza enlisted in the Army from Jackson, Missouri in 2010.
Zac completed Basic Training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and Advanced Individual Training at Fort Gordon, Georgia. After graduation, he served in Okinawa, Japan from 2011-2012 and was deployed to Afghanistan in support of the International Security Assistance from 2013-2014. Zachary started his military career as a satellite communications specialist before entering the Army Warrant Flight program in 2015. He attended the Aviation Warrant Officer Basic Course in 2015 and graduated as a UH-60M pilot at Fort Rucker, Alabama. In 2017, he served as an Aeromedical Evacuation Pilot with the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade on Wheeler Army Airfield, Hawaii. He then served as a Pilot-in-Command in 2020 with Task Force Sinai in Egypt. In 2021, he was assigned to the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade and has served as an Instructor Pilot since October 2021.
Zachary G. Esparza was killed on along with eight other members of the 101st Airborne on 29-MAR 2023 when during a training exercise two HH-60 Black Hawk helicopters collided.
Zachary Esparza was posthumously promoted to CW3 and awarded the Meritorious Service Medal. He will be laid to rest April 17th following the service at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, in St. Louis, Missouri.
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