By WBFO News
Buffalo, NY – Department of Defense officials say a Niagara Falls native died Friday, the fourth local member of the military to die overseas this month.
Sergeant Steven Ganczewski died in Balad, Iraq. His mother, Maria Ganczewski says in his four years serving in the military, her son performed five tours of duty in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. This tour was to be his last.
Military officials had told her little about her son's death, but she was informed he fell from a helicopter on his way to a mission.
His parents provided Ganczewski with signed permission so he could join the military when he was only 17 after he decided at 14 he wanted to be an Army Ranger.
He is survived by his wife Rachel, 22, and daughter, Makayla, 2, of Columbus, Ga.