CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM Retired Marine Gunnery Sgt. Robert Hashida paid his respects to the fallen Marines and a Navy sailor yesterday at the Pacific War Memorial at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe.

Isle Marines
welcome
mourners

The Kaneohe base sponsors
a tearful salute to 27 servicemen
killed in a copter crash in Iraq

They were his closest friends, almost like his brothers. And Lance Cpl. Buck Gates was certain he would see them again.

Yesterday, Gates stood in front of the Pacific War Memorial at the Kaneohe Marine base paying respects to 27 Hawaii-based servicemen, including five of his best friends, who perished in a helicopter crash in Iraq last week.

"I told the guys, 'I'll see you, you're going to be right behind me. I'll see you when you get back,'" said Gates, of State College, Pa., who was allowed to leave Iraq a month early after he completed his four-year term with the Marine Corps.

"I'm still in shock and disbelief that this could've happened," he said.

Gates, along with a steady flow of visitors that came to the Kaneohe base throughout the day yesterday, honored the servicemen who were killed last week. Many wiped away tears as they stood in front of the Pacific War Memorial to remember the fallen servicemen.

Twenty-six Marines from the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, at Kaneohe, a Navy corpsman from Pearl Harbor and four helicopter crewmen from California were killed Wednesday when a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter crashed in Iraq.

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM Jennifer Asue and Jacqueline Fontenot, friends of Lance Cpl. Brian Hopper, were among those who grieved yesterday at the Pacific War Memorial at the Kaneohe Marine base.

Their deaths have deeply affected residents on the islands. That is why military officials opened the Kaneohe gates to the public to allow the community to pay tribute to the victims. An array of flowers was laid in front of the war memorial by visitors from throughout Oahu.

Gates said he arrived in Kaneohe Friday after making a brief stop in Okinawa from Iraq, and heard the news about the crash. Later, he heard the names of the victims, among them some of his best friends.

He described Cpl. Richard Gilbert of Dayton, Ohio; Cpl. Nathan Schubert of Cherokee, Iowa; Cpl., Sean Kelly of Pitman, N.J.; Lance Cpl. Joseph Spence of Scotts Valley, Calif.; and Cpl. Timothy Knight of Brooklyn, Ohio, as his brothers who spent most of their weekends in Hawaii together.

"Those were my closest friends, my closest brothers," he said.

Gates was thankful to those who honored the memory of his friends and other servicemen at the war memorial yesterday.

"It feels so great to see all these people here and to remember friends, even though they didn't have a direct relationship with them," he said.

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM Melissa Williams and her daughter, Kiersten, 18 months, presented flowers yesterday at the Pacific War Memorial at Kaneohe's Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

Accompanied by friends, Wahiawa resident Christina Sueyoshi broke down in tears as she laid a bouquet of flowers in front of the memorial to honor her boyfriend, Lance Cpl. Gael Saintvil, 24, of Orlando, Fla., who was killed in the crash.

Sueyoshi, 26, said she learned of Saintvil's death when he saw his photo on TV.

Before his photo was displayed, Sueyoshi said she had a feeling Saintvil was killed.

"I just knew," she said.

Sueyoshi said Saintvil called her just before he left on the mission. He told her not to worry, that he would be home soon and that he loved her. "He was supposed to be back next month," she said.

She described Saintvil -- her boyfriend of more than a year -- as a fun, outgoing person with a good sense of humor.

Asked what she would miss about Saintvil, she said, "Him, just him, period."

Waimanalo resident Cy Esias said, "It's just hard to see young people go nowadays."

"I got mad when I heard they were killed," said Esias, 67, who had served in the Air Force. "This is a stressful time."

The Fallen