5 Marines Who Died in Crash Called ‘Special’

A day after being relieved of his command of the trouble-plagued Heavy Marine Helicopter Squadron 465 for “loss of confidence,” Lt. Col. Samuel J. Ware eulogized as “special men” the five Marines who died when their CH-53E Superstallion helicopter crashed near the Salton Sea.

Ware told a solemn crowd of more than 400 friends and relatives who gathered Wednesday at the Marine Corps Air Station Theater in Tustin that the Marines “lost some pretty special men” in the Jan. 8 tragedy. He praised the five for their devotion to families and friends and their enthusiasm for flying and the Marines. Each man, he said, was “our Marine.”