Flier Who Died In B-52 Crash `Is Hero, Patriot,' His Widow Says

WENATCHEE - The widow of Air Force 1st Lt. Eric Hedeen, who died when his B-52 crashed into the Indian Ocean after a Gulf War bombing mission, praised him yesterday as a hero.

``Eric is a hero and a patriot, and I am so very proud of him,'' Susan Hedeen of Memphis, Tenn., said at her husband's funeral.

``He exemplified what that red, white and blue flag on his coffin represents. . . . To him it was his life, and I love him very, very much for it.''

Hedeen, 27, served as an electronic-warfare officer. He died Feb. 2 as his airplane was returning to a military base on the island of Diego Garcia, 2,000 miles from the war.

His body was found in an inflated life raft. Three of the six crew members survived, and two are missing.

``Eric's service to his country and his death I think could be summed up in three words: duty, honor, country,'' his father, Gerald Hedeen of nearby Malaga, told those gathered for the funeral.

The elder Hedeen, now an orchardist, had been an Air Force fighter pilot. He saluted his son's coffin.

Eric Hedeen graduated in architecture from Washington State University, where he had also enrolled in Reserve Officer Training Corps.

Gerald Hedeen and his wife, Dee, were notified Feb. 3 of their son's death.

The elder Hedeen said his son had been in the Air Force three years and was transferred from Guam to Diego Garcia after the war broke out in mid-January. He had been flying bombing missions over Iraqi troop concentrations.

The father said earlier one of the engines on the eight-engine bomber apparently quit and the electrical system gave out. He said it was likely his son died of injuries he suffered while ejecting from the aircraft.

Once his stint in the service was over, Hedeen planned to return to this northcentral Washington area and establish a practice as an architect, his father said.