Chief Warrant Officer Michael T. Blaise loved to fly so much that he would e-mail pictures of the inside and outside of his helicopter to his family.

“He was doing what he wanted to do, and he loved it,” said his stepmother, Cheryl Blaise. “He told my husband that if anything happened, don’t feel bad: ‘I’m doing what I want to do.’”

Blaise, 29, died Jan. 23 when his helicopter crashed on its way back from a combat mission near Mosul, Iraq. He was based at Fort Campbell, Ky. He graduated from high school in Macon, Mo., in 1993 and attended technical school for a year before joining the Army, which he always wanted to do, said his father, Terry. Blaise felt strongly about serving in Iraq, and said Iraqis often thanked him for his service. Blaise’s wife, Kate,...