PORT ANGELES — The Army says it is responsible for the low-flying military helicopters with spotlights that buzzed around the small town of Port Angeles, late Thursday night. An Army official is apologizing for the unannounced training mission.
Dozens of residents called police to ask what was going on. Mayor Cherie Kidd said Friday the choppers, in her words, “terrorized my city.” The mayor says no one had advance warning and city officials spent hours Friday trying to determine where the helicopters came from — or, as she put it, “who had invaded Port Angeles.”
The Peninsula Daily News reported that Army Col. H. Charles “Chuck” Hodges Jr. termed the episode “totally unacceptable” and added his apology. In his words, “at the very least we should have notified local authorities of the exercise.”
Hodges said he has launched an investigation.
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Information from: Peninsula Daily News, http://www.peninsuladailynews.com
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