Christopher Walter Pyzik was born on January 2, 1950, in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. He was the son of Walter Joseph Pyzik. He graduated from Morton East High School in 1967. He worked in the Jewel-Osco store before enlisting in the army on January 29, 1968. He served in Vietnam for 18 months and flew 70 combat missions before being assigned to Germany. He served in the Heavy Mortar Platoon, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, as a Sergeant and Squad Leader during the Vietnam War era.

On August 18, 1971, a U.S. Army CH-47A Chinook (tail number 66-19023) transporting troops from Ludwigsburg to the Grafenwöhr training area crashed near Pegnitz, Germany, when a decommissioned rotor blade was mistakenly reinstalled and failed mid-flight. The aircraft broke apart in the air, killing all 37 aboard, including 33 soldiers and 4 crew members, marking the deadliest peacetime U.S. military accident in
West Germany since World War II.

Sgt Pyzik, who was among the passengers on board and is now buried in the Queen of Heaven Catholic Cemetery, Hillside, Cook County, Illinois, USA.

Source of information: www.chinook-helicopter.com, www.findagrave.com