A Chelsea High School graduate serving as an elite combat rescue officer in the U.S. Air Force died in a helicopter crash Wednesday while serving in Afghanistan.

1st Lt. Joel C. Gentz of Grass Lake was one of four men killed in the crash, the Department of Defense confirmed in a statement.

Chelsea High School officials said this morning that Gentz, 25, graduated in 2002. He ran cross country at the school, according to obituary information on the Freedom Remembered website.

Gentz and three other airmen were killed when their HH-60 Pavehawk helicopter went down Wednesday near Forward Operation Base Jackson, Lt. Ken Lustig, a public affairs officer at Nellis Air Force Base, told the Jackson Citizen Patriot. Three airmen were injured in the crash.

The others killed were Staff Sgt. Michael P. Flores, 31, of San Antonio; Staff Sgt. David C. Smith, 26, of Eight Mile, Ala.; and Senior Airman Benjamin D. White, 24, of Erwin, Tenn., according to the Department of Defense.

A Taliban spokesman said insurgents fired two rocket-propelled grenades to down the NATO helicopter on Wednesday, the Associated Press reported. The crash happened in Helmand province, part of a volatile region where the Taliban still hold sway despite a U.S. troop buildup.

This was Gentz’s first deployment, and he had more than 50 hours of combat time, the Citizen-Patriot reported.

Gentz graduated in 2007 from Purdue University, where he participated in the Air Force ROTC.

Col. Mike Silver, a former Purdue ROTC Air Force detachment commander and Gentz's commander during his final year at Purdue, told the Journal & Courier in Layfayette, Ind., that he was devastated upon hearing the news. Gentz was the first Purdue ROTC graduate to become a combat rescue officer.

"Maybe it's because of my age and his age, but it's like losing a part of your family," he told the paper. "He was clearly the most well-rounded cadet during his time there."