Grieving families of five Marines who died in a helicopter crash during a deadly storm in California earlier this week said Saturday that their deaths are the latest example of unnecessary and fatal accidents in the military.
Steven Langen, the father of Sgt. Alec Langen, 23, who was serving as a crew chief aboard the CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter that went down in the mountains 45 minutes from San Diego on Tuesday, told the Post that his son’s death is a case recent of what has become “a very familiar story in the military community.”
“Maybe this is the only case where they wake up and say, ‘What are we doing to our service members?’ We have to stop this,’” he said.
On Tuesday, the group was returning to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego from Creech Air Force Base outside Las Vegas as California was hit by record rain and snow that had made flying conditions They were treacherous and unstable.
Authorities said Thursday that an investigation into the cause of the crash was underway, but Bradford Moulton, uncle of the victim, Capt. Benjamin Moulton, 27, questioned why his nephew and his fellow Marines they were in the air during “a thousand-year storm.”
USMC Alec Langen (center) with his parents Steven and Caryn Langen. Courtesy of Steven Langen
“They’re Marines, they fly in bad weather, they do what they’re supposed to do… but I wish the operations officer had kept them on the ground,” he said Saturday.
The fatal crash came nearly three months after five Army special operations soldiers died when their helicopter crashed in the Mediterranean Sea during an in-flight refueling training exercise.
Lance soldier. Donovan Davis. AP Capt. Benjamin Moulton, his uncle told The Post, had his sights set on becoming a jet pilot for the Marines. AP captain Jack Casey was 26 years old. AP captain Miguel Nava was 28 years old.
Eight Air Force special operations service members also died during a training exercise in November when their CV-22 Osprey crashed off the coast of Yakushima Island, Japan, en route to Okinawa.
The following month, a Marine was killed and 14 other people were injured when their amphibious combat vehicle overturned during training at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, just north of San Diego.
Aviation experts previously told The Post that torrential weather conditions likely contributed to the fatal helicopter crash that also claimed the life of Capt. Jack Casey, 26, Lance Cpl. Donovan Davis and Captain Miguel Nava.
“Not only did it not have to happen, it shouldn’t have happened,” said Davis’s father, Gregory, 53, a retired naval aviation officer.
Aviation experts previously told The Post that torrential weather conditions likely contributed to the fatal helicopter crash.
All of the Marines’ grieving relatives said their relatives had decided to enlist and follow in their relatives’ footsteps from an early age.
Steven Langen said he had served as a Marine crew chief from 1986 to 1995 and flew the same type of helicopter as his son, Alec, who he believed “did it better.”
Langen recalled that Alec said he just wanted a gift before his 17th birthday party.
“The next thing you know, someone knocks on the door. And there’s the Navy recruiter,” she said. “All he wanted for his birthday was to sign up for the delayed entry program a year early.”
Langen waves from the edge of a plane. Courtesy of Steven Langen
He said his son died “doing what he loved,” but left behind his wife of 21 years, whom he had married just four months earlier.
Gregory Davis said his son had been surrounded by the Navy and Marine Corps throughout his upbringing, beginning with his birth at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station in Washington.
“He was very proud to be a Marine, he loved his job, he loved what he did,” his father said.
“We are proud of Donovan and all he was able to accomplish in his short 21 years.”
A view of the aerial map of the Miramar Air Station. Google Earth
Benjamin Moulton, his uncle told The Post, had his sights set on becoming a Marine Corps aircraft pilot, like his grandfather, who had been a Marine Corps pilot and rose to the rank of colonel before retiring. .
Moulton was “a very bright kid” who received a full ride to the University of Washington on an ROTC scholarship and ended up being selected to fly helicopters in the military branch.
“He was going to be a Navy pilot no matter what,” his proud uncle shared.
A CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter. US NAVY/AFP via Getty Images
Maj. Gen. Michael J. Borgschulte, commanding general of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, previously said that the Marines who died in the helicopter crash “were fulfilling a calling larger than themselves and were proud to do it.” . “We will always be grateful for their call to duty and their selfless service.”
The Post has contacted the Marines for comment. Casey and Nava’s families could not be located.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn