NEW PEKIN, Ind. (WDRB) -- An Air Force pilot from southern Indiana who died in a trainer jet crash in February was laid to rest Sunday in his hometown.
A funeral ceremony for Air Force 1st Lt. Scot Ames was held at Eastern High School in New Pekin, Indiana. Ames, 24, was then buried at New Chapel Cemetery in Underwood.
Ames was an instructor pilot with the 50th Flying Training Squadron at Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi. He and a student pilot from the Japanese Air Self Defense Force were killed Feb. 19 in a crash near Montgomery, Alabama.
During Ames' visitation Saturday, mourners remembered him as a man who gave his life for the country he loved, doing what he loved.
"We've got thousands of stories to tell that help remember him and keep him alive in our hearts and so he will never be gone," said Ames' widow, Audra Ames.
"He did everything in his entire life with his whole heart. He put his whole heart into everything he ever did," added Ames' mother, Ginger Ames. "So proud of him. So very proud."
WDRB Photojournalist Darius Bowie captured the sights and sounds as Ames' family, friends, servicemembers and others in the New Pekin community paid their final respects.
The cause of the fatal crash remains under investigation.
Related Stories:
- Visitation held for fallen southern Indiana fighter pilot killed in crash
- Body of Scot Ames, Air Force pilot killed in Alabama, arrives home to southern Indiana
- Air Force pilot from southern Indiana, student killed in jet crash in Alabama
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