http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_1342858,00.html
300 attend service for airman killed in crash
Colorado native died on training mission for Special Forces
By John C. Ensslin, Rocky Mountain News
August 23, 2002
Two fighter jets streaked over Fort Logan National Cemetery, heading toward the mountains where lightning raked the sky.
On the ground, the roar was deafening. It was the kind of sound, though, that Shane Kimmett would have recognized - right down to being able to identify the aircraft upon hearing it.
Friends and family recalled the 28-year-old Colorado native's lifelong love of flight as they laid him to rest Thursday.
Kimmett was one of 10 airmen killed when an Air Force Special Forces MC-130H Combat Talon II slammed into a mountainside Aug. 7 during a training mission in Puerto Rico.
"No matter what aircraft he was on, he was truly soaring," said Lt. Col. Kevin Wooten, who served as Kimmett's squadron commander at Hurlburt Air Field.
"I am so privileged for having known him," Wooten told about 300 people who gathered for a funeral service at Epiphany Episcopal Church. "My life has been enriched by my association with Shane."
Among the crowd were Air Force officers from Florida and Omaha, where Kimmett had previously been assigned. There was also a sizable group of Denver police officers who work with Kimmett's parents.
His father, Dan Kimmett, is a Denver detective. His mother, Jeni, is a forensic chemist in the police crime lab.
The Rev. Rick Kautz, who led the service, recalled how he had conducted the marriage service six year ago for Shane Kimmett and his wife, Emily.
Kautz also said he had written a letter of recommendation for Kimmett when he applied to join the Air Force. Kautz wondered aloud if he had done a good thing by writing that letter.
"But Shane was doing what he loved to do," the priest quickly added.
Kautz spoke about the sadness and the "sting of death" that friends and family feel.
"Shane has been set free. We are the ones who are bound," he said. "If anyone is sad, maybe Shane is sad for us."
Wooten recalled how Kimmett forged lasting friendships at every stop of his military career. He recalled how Emily Kimmett crocheted a blanket for her husband after learning how cold it was on some of his flights.
Shane Kimmett ended up sharing the blanket with four other airmen, Wooten said.
Wooten also read a presidential commendation that Kimmett received for his actions in July 1999, when he served as a Spanish translator in the removal of 68 Americans from an unstable situation in a Latin American country.
His aptitude for languages helped him where his eyesight failed. Kimmett had always wanted to be a pilot. Instead he worked on the aircraft as a direct support operator.
"Shane will be missed here by all that knew him," his family wrote in a booklet distributed at the service.
"But don't be too forlorn," they added. "When you feel the whisper of air crossing your cheek or ruffling your hair, you'll know that God let Shane go flying."