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Academy dedicates memorials to fallen grads

Two 2001 Air Force Academy graduates killed in Iraq were honored Friday with memorials in their old cadet squadrons.

Capts. Derek Argel and Jeremy Fresques, combat controllers assigned to the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron, were on a classified mission when the small Iraq plane they were flying in crashed in Iraq on May 30, 2005. Two other U.S. airmen and an Iraqi co-pilot also died in the accident, which the Defense Department said was not caused by hostile fire.

Argel was an avid water polo player and a rising star in the special tactics field. Fresques began his career as a communications officer but applied for special operations after deciding he’d “go crazy sitting at a desk.”

Both had been promoted to captain the morning of the day they were killed.

Family, friends and members of the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron and the 6th Special Operations Squadron attended the ceremony, as well as academy cadets, faculty and staff.

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* Crash that killed 5 investigated

* 1 war, 2 deaths