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Iraq

Crash was worst blow to Hawaii since '41

HONOLULU - Most of the troops lost in the U.S. military's deadliest crash of the Iraq war were based in Hawaii, but they came from coast to coast, from Florida to New Hampshire, from Ohio to Oregon.

Some of the families of the 30 Marines and a Navy medic killed Wednesday when a helicopter crashed in a sandstorm shared their memories and their grief after military officials told them of the deaths. The Pentagon identified the sailor killed as Petty Officer 3rd Class John D. House of Ventura, Calif., but said it would not publicly identify the Marines until all families were notified. So far, the families have identified 12 of the Marines.

House was a 28-year-old who never got the chance to meet his baby boy, born Christmas Eve.

House had written letters home describing the camaraderie and responsibility he felt for the Marines in his unit, his parents told the Ventura County Star.

The CH-53E Super Stallion went down in western Iraq while transporting troops for security operations in preparation for Sunday's elections. The military was investigating the cause of the crash and gave no indication there had been enemy fire.

Twenty-seven of the dead were based at Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay, according to Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii. It was the worst loss of Hawaii troops since the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.

The helicopter crew was from the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego.

Belga Saintvil of Orlando feared the worst when he learned that a helicopter carrying Marines crashed in an Iraq desert sandstorm, killing all aboard.

Spc. Gael Saintvil, 24, was among the 31 victims of the crash, his father told Orlando TV station WESH.

"It happened for a good cause, for the country. . . . Don't like it, but what's happened has happened," Belga Saintvil said.

"Even though I don't like the war, I do support the troops and the job they do."

Ohio lost at least three Marines in the crash: Cpl. Richard Gilbert Jr., 28, of Dayton; Lance Cpl. Jonathan Edward Etterling, 22, of Wheelersburg; and Sgt. Michael Finke Jr., 28, of Wadsworth.

Others killed, according to their families, included Cpl. James Lee Moore, 24, of Roseburg, Ore.; Hector Ramos, 20, of Aurora, Ill.; Nathan Moore of Champaign, Ill.; Cpl. Sean Kelly, 23, of Pitman, N.J.; Cpl. Timothy Gibson, 23, of Merrimack, N.H.; Matthew Smith, 24, of West Valley City, Utah; Lance Cpl. Rhonald Dain Rairdan of San Antonio, Texas; and Lance Cpl. Tony Hernandez, 22, of Canyon Lake, Texas.

[Last modified January 28, 2005, 00:22:07]