Staff Sergeant Luis A. Sanchez-Velez, Sr. was born on 28 April 1956 in Santurce, Puerto Rico. He volunteered for service in the U.S. Army on 30 December 1975, graduating from Indirect Fire Infantryman's School. He served both stateside and in Germany and was promoted to Sergeant and appointed Squad Leader. After reenlisting for CH-47 Chinook Helicopter School, SSG Sanchez-Velez was assigned to Task Force 160. He served as a Crew Chief in Alpha Company, 159th Aviation Battalion at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

The accident that claimed his life on a CH-47 Chinook, #845, occurred on 10 July 1983 on South Fox Island, Michigan, located at the northern tip of Lake Michigan. SSG Sanchez-Velez and the crew were planning and developing new doctrine, tactics, and techniques that have made the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) what it is today.

He is survived by his wife, Maria and son, Luis, Jr. Building #7283 on GEN Brown Compound at Fort Campbell, Kentucky is dedicated in his honor as Sanchez Hall.

I carry the soul of my father, SSG Luis A. Sanchez, with me every day, and I know he is watching over me and mother. I know he would be proud of what I made of myself because I now serve my country with honor, and that's the way he was, so I'm told. But there's a big part missing since I was a baby when he passed on; I never got the chance to know him.

-PO3 Luis A. Sanchez, Jr