A south suburban U.S. Army veteran has been identified as one of the victims in the Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed 157 people Sunday.
Retired U.S. Army Capt. Antoine Lewis, 40, was on a “volunteer mission” at the time of the crash, said Sean Howard, a spokesman for the village of Matteson, where Lewis grew up.
“I personally watched Captain Antoine Lewis grow from a young lad to an American hero,” Matteson Mayor Sheila Chalmers-Currin said in a statement.
Lewis leaves behind a wife and a 15-year-old son, Chalmers-Currin said.
“I’ve known the Lewis family for over two decades. My family has been proud neighbors to this iconic family. Our children are lifelong personal friends who still have close ties. Captain Lewis was an outstanding person who engaged himself with many positive facets of the Matteson community,” Chalmers-Currin said.
The Boeing 737 Max 8 airplane crashed shortly after taking off from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, while en route to Nairobi, Kenya, officials said. Chicago-based Boeing was planning to send a technical team to help Ethiopian and U.S. investigators.
