It was standing room only in the Morris Hill Chapel Thursday morning as Fort Riley honored five soldiers killed in a helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan December 17th.

The soldiers were all assigned to the 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division.

During the ceremony Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Weinshel, commander of the 1st CAB, spoke about the five soldiers lost. ” I think about all of these great patriots and warriors often. I am always struck by their memory that they truly loved their chosen profession.”

The cause of the crash is still under investigation.

The soldiers who died were Chief Warrant Officer 2 Randy L. Billings, of Heavener, Okla.; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Joshua B. Silverman, of Scottsdale, Ariz.; Sgt. Peter C. Bohler, of Willow Spring, N.C.; Sgt. 1st Class Omar W. Forde, of Marietta, Ga.; and Spc. Terry K.D. Gordon, of Shubuta, Miss.

“We will miss each man and their loss will leave a void for each of us, but the memory of the way in which each of them lived provides strength as we move forward,” LTC Weinshel concluded.