MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2025 Regular Session
To: Rules
By: Senator(s) Hickman, Sparks, Seymour, Boyd, Frazier, Chism, Horhn, Simmons (13th), Jackson, Norwood, McLendon, England, Blount, Bryan, Hill, Simmons (12th), Thomas, Blackmon, Rhodes, Berry, McCaughn, Williams, Polk, DeBar
A RESOLUTION REMEMBERING THE GALLANT SERVICE AND COMMENDING THE LIFE OF UNITED STATES ARMY CHIEF WARRANT OFFICER 2 ANDREW LOYD EAVES OF COLUMBUS AND WEST POINT, MISSISSIPPI, WHO WAS LOST IN ACTION IN A TRAINING MISSION IN WASHINGTON, D.C., ON JANUARY 29, 2025, AND EXPRESSING THE SYMPATHY OF THE LEGISLATURE.
WHEREAS, services were held on February 13, 2025, in Mississippi for 39-year-old Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, a Black Hawk helicopter pilot lost in action in an in-air collision in Washington, D.C.; and
WHEREAS, his family held a private service in West Point, Mississippi, before Warrant Officer Eaves was laid to rest with full military honors at Bethesda Baptist Church Cemetery near Crawford, Mississippi; and
WHEREAS, Honorary pallbearers included members of the Army's 12th Aviation Battalion; and
WHEREAS, Warrant Officer Eaves and two other Army airmen were piloting a Black Hawk helicopter on January 29, 2025, when it collided with a commercial American Airlines flight near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C. The three soldiers and all 64 passengers and crew members on board the American Airlines flight were lost in the crash. The Army airmen were on a training mission out from Davison Army Airfield at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, where they were members of the 12th Aviation Battalion; and
WHEREAS, Warrant Officer Eaves was born in Columbus and grew up in Brooksville, Mississippi. He attended Central Academy in Macon and Mississippi Youth Challenge Academy at Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg. He earned an associate's degree from the University of Maryland Global Campus; and
WHEREAS, Warrant Officer Eaves served ten years in the Navy, where he reached the rank of E-6 1st class petty officer, before joining the Army; and
WHEREAS, survivors include his wife, Carrie Eaves; daughter, Kaylee Lester; and son, Michael Lester; mother, Betty Hayden Eaves of Brooksville, Mississippi; father, Hank Loyd Eaves of Coker, Alabama; and brother, Forrest Eaves of Brooksville, Mississippi.
WHEREAS, Andrew Eaves was a loving son, husband and father who is counted among America's heroes, committed to our nation's safety and security. To a country, a fallen soldier means a national loss; to a community, a fallen soldier means a true hero; to a spouse, parent, or child a fallen soldier means a husband or son or father who will not be coming home. Mississippians understand the costs of conflict, because we have paid them in the past, and it is with great pride and humility that we recognize the heroic action of this great American and Mississippian, who was the guardian of civilization as we know it today:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby remember the gallant service and commend the life of United States Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Class Andrew Loyd Eaves of Columbus and West Point, Mississippi, who was lost in action on a Black Hawk Helicopter training mission in Washington, D.C., January 29, 2025, and extend the thoughts and prayers of a grateful State to his family and our sorrow on his passing.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to the surviving family of Andrew Loyd Eaves and made available to the Capitol Press Corps.