Created: January 22, 2021 05:44 PM MENDON, N.Y. (WHEC) — Two of the New York Army National Guard members who lost their lives in the helicopter crash in Mendon on Wednesday, grew up in other parts of the state, but had made Rochester their permanent home. Chief Warrant Officer Steve Skoda is from Johnstown, New York. He was a 35-year veteran of the Army and the New York Army National Guard. He flew UH-1 helicopters for nearly 30 years and as a senior instructor pilot taught and mentored hundreds of other soldiers. He was twice deployed to Afghanistan. “He was, to my estimation, with everything that has gone on with our country lately, he was the embodiment of a real American, a real patriot. He dedicated his whole life to flying all over the country rescuing people and he believed in it. He didn't have to go to Afghanistan two years ago, he was the senior man but he felt it was his duty and he went and he went for a year at age 54,” Skoda’s friend and neighbor Gregory Young told News10NBC.