Army Chopper Pilot Has Roots
In Astoria Gardens

Army National Guard First Lieutenant Diedre Taylor Ziegenhagen at the controls of one of the helicopters she is qualified to fly.

Her home base is her mother’s apartment in Astoria, but First Lieutenant Diedre Taylor Ziegenhagen can usually be found in the skies above a U.S. Army installation in Alabama, training to add Blackhawk helicopters to her repertoire. Ziegenhagen trained to fly two other types of military helicopters since she joined the Army National Guard on her18th birthday seven years ago this November.

Ziegenhagen earned a degree in computer science to qualify for admission to Officer Candidate School. Having completed the course and earned her commission, she then qualified for flight school, where she trained as a navigator. The Army’s advanced flight training program taught her to fly two types of military helicopters. Now she is one of two females in a class of 300 young officers mastering the legendary Blackhawk aircraft.

Graduation from Blackhawk training is the latest such ceremony for Ziegenhagen, her mother, Eileen Ward, said. Ziegenhagen has had roots in Astoria since her parents, both artists, divorced 14 years ago and Ward left the Soho loft that had been home to live in Astoria. Under an amicable joint custody agreement, Ziegenhagen attended school in Connecticut, where her father and grandparents live. She graduated from Ridgefield, Connecticut H.S. and Western Connecticut University.

Besides her piloting and computer skills, Ziegenhagen inherited considerable artistic talent from her parents. Her designs adorn mugs and emblems at her base and her works, including collages, have been displayed in base facilities.

Ziegenhagen and her fiance, Brian Taylor, M.D. Taylor is also an officer in the Army National Guard.

Ziegenhagen is seriously considering marriage to Brian Taylor, M.D., also serving in the Army National Guard. She plans to make the military a career, although under current regulations she could retire from the National Guard at age 40. Should that be the case, she will then pursue a career in computers, the field in which she obtained her bachelor’s degree. "She has it all planned out," Ward said. Meanwhile, Ward worries about her daughter’s immediate future. "National Guard units are mobilizing," she said, and the possibility exists that her daughter could find herself flying through hostile airspace." My heart’s in my shoes," she confessed.

Ward, whose works emulate those of the Impressionist movement in art, describes herself as an "Impressionist landscape artist," who specializes in sculptural designs. With her daughter away so frequently, she has taken to photographing the roses that abound in Astoria’s gardens. "She loves roses, and so do I," Ward explained. "Roses are resilient—one can be dying on a branch and another one right next to it will be flourishing. They shrivel and fade, and then they come back next year. They’re a symbol of hope."

Some of the roses that bloom in Astoria, Ziegenhagen favorite flower and a symbol of hope and peace for her mother, artist and photographer Eileen Ward.