Their Story
Remembering Deontre T Huey.
CW2 Deontre T. Huey, 34, of Killeen, Texas, was an AH-64E Apache pilot with Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, at Fort Hood.
Deontre graduated from Killeen High School in 2011, where he played football for the Killeen Kangaroos. He entered the Army in February 2014 as a motor transport operator before working his way into flight school and earning his wings as an Apache pilot. He had flown with B Co, 1-227 since February 2022.
Those who knew him describe someone far bigger than his rank or his uniform. His sister, Chassidy Huey, said, "Anytime you were around him, somehow, a memory was created," and that "he was so much more than his rank and his uniform" -- asking that he be remembered for his humor, his creativity, and the love he gave the people around him.
He enjoyed drawing and had a gift for turning an ordinary day into something people carried with them.
A fellow Apache pilot and SERE classmate from flight school at Fort Rucker, Clayton Word, remembered him as a teammate people could count on: during training, when everyone else was exhausted, Huey was the one who kept the team moving. Word called him "one of the few I kept in regular contact with after flight school" and "a truly good friend."
Deontre died August 12, 2026, at age 34, in an AH-64E Apache mishap during a maintenance test flight near Salado, Texas. He is remembered by his family, his unit, and the friends he made at every stop along the way, as a brother, a teammate, and a man who made people feel like they mattered.