Four Hurlburt airmen die in plane crash

FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. (WALA) - Graphic design artist Robyn Patterson is left with only photos of one of her closest friends.

"Everyone would remember Ryan as just a big, goofy smile," Patterson said.

Captain Ryan Hall, 30, and three other Hurlburt Field airmen died when their U-28A went down in Africa, returning home from a mission supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

The others are:

• Capt. Nicholas Whitlock, 29
• 1st Lt. Justin Wilkens, 26
• Senior Airman Julian Scholten, 26

"[Ryan] was young, vivacious, lots of life, big kidder," Patterson said. "They deployed so often we never really took it serious, you know? The guys were always leaving and coming back and we'd throw them a welcome back party. Then they'd go and come back, you just never think about what can happen when they're over there."

Patterson is left thinking of the good times, like "dance party USA." Fond memories of a friend who always had fun.

"Ryan would love the fact that so many girls out there are crying over the fact that he's gone. He would be loving that right now. He would just be like 'Yeah!' And it makes you laugh, and honestly, that's helped me a lot, just that thought."

Patterson described Captain Hall as being funny, a life of the party type, but when it came to his career he was all business.

"He could have done anything he wanted to do, and honestly, he just wanted to be happy," Patterson said. "He wanted to be happy, he wanted to enjoy life, enjoy his family, and just live."

Captain Hall joined the Air Force in 2004, and had since been on seven deployments. He logged more than 1,300 combat flight hours.

He was a great pilot and a huge asset to our military. But, Patterson said, he was an even better friend.

"It was a nice tight little group, and he will definitely be missed," Patterson said.

Patterson said a benefit concert will be held Saturday at Funky Blues Shack in Destin. The purpose is to raise money to reimburse the families of these brave men the travel expenses of going to Dover to meet their boys.

The 1st Special Operations Wing Commander Col. Jim Slife made an official statement and answered questions on the U-28 aircraft crash. Watch the press conference here.