SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) – Even some of the Army’s toughest soldiers cried Thursday as they memorialized the elite helicopter crew of eight soldiers killed when their MH-47 Chinook was shot down in the deadliest single attack on U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

“A loss of one is felt by everybody, but a loss of eight is a shockwave,” said Maj. Chad Chasteen, a company commander in the slain soldiers’ unit, 3rd Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.

More than 800 people, mostly soldiers and about 160 family members, attended the service at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah. Standing in a row on a riser were eight sets of rifles, combat boots and helmets strapped with night-vision goggles reflecting a faint green glow.

The crash June 28 killed eight Navy SEALS and eight members of the Hunter-based 3rd Battalion, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, a unit of elite Army helicopter crews that flies special forces commandos behind enemy lines under cover of night.

The helicopter crashed after being hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, killing all soldiers on board.

A slide projector flashed photos on a screen of the crew – Staff Sgt. Shamus O. Goare, Chief Warrant Officer Corey J. Goodnature, Sgt. Kip A. Jacoby, Sgt. 1st Class Marcus V. Muralles, Maj. Stephen C. Reich, Sgt. 1st Class Michael L. Russell, Chief Warrant Officer Chris J. Scherkenbach and Master Sgt. James W. Ponder III.

In eulogies by some of their closest friends, sometimes choking up as they spoke, the soldiers were described as heroes who routinely took on missions others would deem too dangerous, often to retrieve troops pinned down in treacherous terrain.

“I can still see Mike hanging off the ramp, one wheel on the side of a mountain, amazingly able to get his teams in to their landing zones,” former unit member Jason Sims said of Russell, 31, of Stafford, Va.

A fellow soldier remembered Reich, 34, of Washington Depot, Conn., for putting his career on the line for altering a mission plan to rescue a group of soldiers.

Scherkenbach, 40, of Jacksonville, Fla., would take his orange University of Florida ballcap on deployments for luck. Goodnature, 35, of Clarks Grove, Minn., loved hunting deer and the quiet of the woods.

Muralles, 33, of Shelbyville, Ind., was a medic who baffled fellow medical students with his quirky humor. Goare, 29, of Danville, Ohio, comforted newcomers with stories of the tongue-lashings he’d endured from commanders. Jacoby, 21, of Pompano Beach, Fla., had arms decorated with tattoos and easily felt comfortable with strangers.

Ponder, 36, of Franklin, Tenn., had been temporarily assigned to the Savannah unit from Fort Campbell, Ky., which held a memorial service for him Wednesday.

Known as the Night Stalkers, the 160th is based at Fort Campbell, Ky., with a battalion stationed at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah. Fort Campbell held its own memorial service Wednesday.

Formed in 1981 following the botched rescue attempt of U.S. hostages in Iran, the 160th has deployed in nearly every U.S. conflict since Grenada in 1983. The unit has had 21 soldiers killed in action since 2002.

“I know you punched your ticket the way you wanted it, flying in the clouds,” Sgt. Jason Bailey said, sobbing during his eulogy to Goare. “Grab Muralles by the shoulders and tell him it’s OK to sit on the gun cans. Because guns aren’t needed where you’re going.”

AP-ES-07-07-05 1842EDT