Pendleton Casualties Arouse Grief, Pride

A helicopter crash during combat Friday in Iraq claimed the lives of two Camp Pendleton Marines, bringing grief tinged with pride to those who knew them in Southern California and in their home states of Nebraska and Massachusetts.

The deaths of Capts. Travis Ford, 30, of Oceanside and Benjamin Sammis, 29, of Vista bring the number of Americans killed in the war to 80, which includes 12 from California.

Ford is survived by his wife, Deon, and their daughter, Ashley, whose second birthday is today. Sammis leaves behind his wife of 18 months, Stacey.

A short statement released by the Defense Department said the AH-1W Super Cobra helicopter crashed near Ali Aziziyal during combat operations.

Capt. Benjamin Sammis

The news of Sammis’ death did not take long to spread in his hometown of Rehoboth, Mass.

Sammis was a favorite son of the town of 11,000. He was a boy of many talents who had grown up there and fulfilled a dream of flying in the military. Many people in Rehoboth were openly grieving Sunday, either in church or at the home of Sammis’ parents, Steven and Beth.

“He was the best of the best,” said Frances Tobin, a longtime Rehoboth resident and acquaintance of the Sammis family.

His wife said in a prepared statement: “Sometimes in life you are lucky enough to find and marry your best friend. Ben and I were that lucky. Ben is the most gentle, loving and kind man.”

The middle son of three, Sammis was an excellent student, talented soccer player, Eagle Scout and avid sailor, and had a beautiful voice that he displayed in school productions, friends of his family said.

“I visited the family today [Sunday] and his mother said that the one comfort she had was that he was living out his dream,” said the Rev. Scott Spencer of the Rehoboth Congregational Church, which the Sammis family has long attended.

“She said that Ben’s dream was to be a Marine and fly helicopters, and he was doing what he wanted to do,” Spencer said. “They understood that dream and supported him even though she was dealing with this incredible loss.”

Bill Cute, a history teacher at Dighton-Rehoboth High School, taught Sammis during his junior year -- the same year of the 1991 Gulf War. He remembered Sammis showing a keen interest in history and the military.

“Ben had his heart set on going to the Citadel in South Carolina because he liked the military tradition they had,” Cute said. “And that’s what he did. Suffice it to say, he was the kind of kid you looked forward to coming to class every day because you knew he was going to give you the best he had.”

After graduating from the Citadel, Sammis joined the Marines and learned to fly. He was assigned to the Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 267 of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing at Camp Pendleton.

His parents declined to speak to the media Sunday. Through a family spokesman, they released a short statement: “Our son, Benjamin Sammis, loved to fly and loved the corps as much as life itself. We are devastated by our loss, as we are for all who have lost loved ones.”

Rehoboth is in southeastern Massachusetts, about 10 miles from Providence, R.I. The town, which was settled in the 1640s, is the kind of place where most residents know one another.

Spencer said he saw several people at Sunday morning services who don’t regularly attend church.

“By this morning, quite a few people had heard about Ben because word gets around here,” he said. “I think those people came because they needed a place to share their grief. We’re all reading and watching so much about this war, and sometimes it gets a little impersonal perhaps.

“There’s a sense of shock here. The war has now come so close to home.”

Capt. Travis Ford

In the small town of Ogallala, Neb., where Ford grew up, announcements were being made in churches and the young man’s praises were being sung.

“He’s a native son of Nebraska and considered a hero in the state,” said Craig Condello, a lifelong friend related by marriage. “Travis was the best. He was an action-oriented person -- if he said he was going to do it, he’d do it. He was the leader of the pack and at the same time very humble.”

Ford’s lifelong dream was to be a Marine, Condello said, especially after his older brother, Alex, became a Marine and, later, a pilot for the FBI based in San Diego.

The younger Ford enlisted in the service immediately after graduating from the University of Nebraska in 1996, became a pilot and moved to Oceanside about two years ago.

“He was an outstanding athlete,” Condello said, “and those types of skills transferred over to his military career. He was a natural Marine; all his life he’d prepared for that. The Marines was really his profession and what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.”

Part of this athleticism was directed toward cheerleading while a student at Nebraska. Ford used a bullhorn to propose to his girlfriend at the halftime of a Cornhuskers football game. Then he ran to her seat in the stands and, dropping to his knees, presented her with a ring, Condello said.

Ford’s wife, Deon, could not be reached Sunday.

Shortly before Ford was deployed to the Middle East in late January, Condello said, he and his friend had a long telephone conversation.

“My question to him was, ‘Are you nervous? Does it scare you?’ ” Condello said. “His response was, ‘Craig, I was born to do this. This is something I’ve wanted all my life -- the opportunity to protect my family and my country and fight for freedom.’ ”

Condello said Ford told him he had no illusions about the risk.

“He told me that if he had to sacrifice himself in that kind of atmosphere he would do it willingly to protect everything that he believed in.

“I told him, if he didn’t come back, that I’d let people know what he’d said,” Condello recalled.”Everybody understands what he did and that he did it for all of us. He’s done nothing but make people proud.”