State Capitol to honor
28 fallen heroes
Victims of the Jan. 26 chopper crash
and a Feb. 2 ambush will be remembered
Heartfelt reaction from across America has buoyed Kaneohe Marines who suffered the Corps' biggest single-day loss since 1983 when 26 of their own and a Navy corpsman were killed in a helicopter crash in Iraq.
Their commander, Lt. Col. Michael Ramos, said recently that the 3rd Regimental Division commander told him of "the tremendous outpouring of sympathy and support from the Hawaiian people and the American people after our tragedy. It touched every single one of us. ... It bolstered our spirits to know that people cared and to know people were showing their concern and compassion for our families. That meant everything to us."
On Monday at the state Capitol, that "outpouring" will continue with a memorial service for 26 Kaneohe Marines and one Pearl Harbor hospital corpsman killed in the Jan. 26 crash of a CH-53E Super Stallion, and for another Marine who was killed in a Feb. 2 ambush near Fallujah.
Family members are expected to attend, and scheduled speakers at the 1 p.m. memorial service include Gov. Linda Lingle, Lt. Gen. Wallace Gregson, commander of Marine Forces in the Pacific, and Col. Jeff Patterson, 3rd Regimental Division commander.
The 1st Battalion is slated to leave Kuwait by the end of this week and will be stationed on Okinawa until late April.
Ramos, 1st Battalion commander, said the helicopter crash, which was believed to have been caused by bad weather, is still under investigation.
Ramos said "these men were like brothers to me" and had survived the month-long battle for Fallujah in November. "It was a terrible, terrible tragic loss that we suffered.
"These men were special men. They were heroes, and they had gone through one of the most important battles of this war. These are men who fought to liberate the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah. Many of those men had been awarded Purple Hearts. Some of them had been wounded in action and remained in action with their brothers to continue to fight because they needed them and because they didn't want to leave their brothers behind."
The helicopter crash was the worst single-day incident in the Marine Corps since the 1983 barracks bombing in Beirut, Lebanon.
Bells to toll for
tragic crash
In a ceremony on Monday, the names of 27 Marines and a Navy corpsman will be read and a bell rung twice in their honor.
» Staff Sgt. Brian D. Bland, 26, of Weston, Wis.
» Lance Cpl. Jonathan E. Etterling, 22, of Wheelersburg, Ohio.
» Sgt. Michael W. Finke Jr. 28, of Huron, Ohio.
» 1st Lt. Travis J. Fuller, of Granville, Mass.
» Cpl. Timothy M. Gibson, 23, of Hillsborough, N.H.
» Cpl. Richard A. Gilbert Jr., 26, of Montgomery, Ohio.
» Cpl. Kyle J. Grimes, 21, of Northhampton, Pa.
» Lance Cpl. Brian C. Hopper, 21, of Wynne, Ark.
» Petty Officer John D. House, 28, of Ventura, Calif.
» Lance Cpl. Saeed Jafarkhani-torshizi Jr., 25, of Tarrant, Texas.
» Cpl. Stephen P. Johnson, 24, of Covina, Calif.
» Cpl. Sean P. Kelly, 23, of Glouster, N.J.
» Lance Cpl. Allan Klein, 34, of Macomb, Mich.
» Cpl. Timothy Knight, 22, of Brooklyn, Ohio.
» Lance Cpl. Fred L. Maciel, 20, of Spring, Texas.
» Cpl. James L. Moore, 24, of Douglas, Ore.
» Cpl. Nathaniel K. Moore, 22, of Champaign, Ill.
» Lance Cpl. Mourad Ragimov, 20, San Diego.
» Lance Cpl. Rhonald Rairdan, 20, of Bexar, Texas.
» Lance Cpl. Hector Ramos, 20, of Aurora, Ill.
» Lance Cpl. Gael Saintvil, 24, of Orange, Fla.
» Cpl. Nathan A. Schubert, 22, of Cherokee, Iowa.
» Lance Cpl. Darrell J. Schumann, 25, of Hampton, Va.
» 1st Lt. Dustin M. Shumney, 30, of Solano, Calif.
» Cpl. Matthew R. Smith, 24, of Salt Lake, City.
» Lance Cpl. Joseph B. Spence, 24, of Santa Cruz, Calif.
» Lance Cpl. Michael L. Starr Jr., 21, of Baltimore.
Killed on Feb. 2:
» Lance Cpl. Sean P. Maher, 19, of Grays Lake, Ill., who died in an ambush near Fallujah. He was driving a Humvee.
www.mcbh.usmc.mil/3mar/1dbn/1-3%20INDEX.htm
Marine Corps Base Hawaii
www.mcbh.usmc.mil
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