Funeral services have been tentatively scheduled Monday for a Libby soldier who died in a military training accident off the coast of Virginia.

Sergeant 1st Class James Stright was the crew chief aboard a helicopter that crashed on the deck of the U.S. Navy ship Arctic.

Stright was a soldier in C Company, 3rd Battalion of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, headquartered at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Georgia.

The Montana National Guard reports that the funeral services are tentatively scheduled for 1 o'clock Monday afternoon at the Libby Christian Church.

Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer has issued a proclamation ordering that all flags flown in Montana lowered to half staff on Monday morning until sundown Tuesday to honor Stright.

(from October 27, 2009) A Montana soldier was killed and eight others injured when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed on a Navy ship during training off the Virginia coast last Thursday.

Army Staff Sergeant  James Stright, 29, of Libby was a member of the east coast naval special warfare unit on board the helicopter.

The unit was rappelling down ropes from the chopper onto the deck of the USNS Arctic when the helicopter clipped the deck and crashed into the stern section of the ship, ending up on its side.

Stright is survived by his parents, Robert and Kathy Stright of Libby.

Staff Sergeant James Stright served in the Regiment for more than five years and was assigned to the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment at Hunter Army Airfield.