A very good buddy of mine is a Marine CH-53 pilot in Iraq.......

[Kris Kringle]

......We went to H.S. together. We also joined the Navy at the same time. After his enlistment in the Navy, he transfered over to the Marines.

As you probably know a Marine CH-53 sea stallion has gone down in Iraq and killed approx. 31 Marines. The odds are that it wasn't his helo, but I'd appreciate your positive thoughts and prayers for him and his family. I'm sure his wife is a basket case waiting for news to know that he's OK.

Thanks


http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20050126/i/r610999925.jpg

http://www.foxnews.com/images/151863/10_23_ch53.jpg

[memyselfI]

I hope he's ok.

I've heard this crew was stationed out of San Diego so if your friend wasn't there then perhaps your worry will be lessened.

Today has been a very bad day in Iraq and I'm sure there are a number of people very worried all across the US.

[Kris Kringle]

I hope he's ok.

I've heard this crew was stationed out of San Diego so if your friend wasn't there then perhaps your worry will be lessened. He was in Jacksonville, then Pensecola. I'm not sure where he's stationed now. Could be anywhere. Where did you hear that? Link?

Thanks

[memyselfI]

He was in Jacksonville, then Pensecola. I'm not sure where he's stationed now. Could be anywhere. Where did you hear that? Link?

Thanks

From Bill Hemmer on CNN. Here is a link.

http://www.woi-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=2859443&nav=1LFXVcfz

Helicopter Crash Kills 31 Marines


BAGHDAD- Thirty-one Marines are believed to have been killed in a helicopter crash, and four more are confirmed dead in a separate firefight, in the deadliest day so far in the Iraq war.

Additionally, a U.S. soldier died in a rocket attack north of Baghdad, bringing the apparent total U.S. military deaths to 36.

Watch Peter Jennings' reports from Iraq on "World News Tonight" this week.


Previously, the deadliest day for U.S. forces in Iraq was March 23, 2003, during the first week of the war, when 28 service members were killed.


Low Visibility


Low visibility appears to have contributed to the CH-53 Sea Stallion transport helicopter accident near Ar Rutbah, Iraq, about 220 miles west of Baghdad, officials said. The helicopter did not appear to have been downed as a result of enemy fire.

The desert area where the accident occurred is known to have ferocious dust storms, including one witnessed by an ABC News crew in recent days. Military officials believe the helicopter pilot either was trying to rise above dust or clouds.

An investigation into the helicopter crash is under way.

According to a military statement, personnel from the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing were transporting personnel from the 1st Marine Division to western Iraq when the crash occurred at approximately 1:20 a.m. local time.

The troops were conducting security and stabilization operations, the statement said, and officials added that the Marines were going out to help election workers.

The 1st Marine Division is based out of Camp Pendleton in San Diego.


Early Morning Raid


Four other Marines were killed in a firefight after an early morning raid in Haditha, in northwestern Iraq about 100 miles from the Syrian border, according to Jim Dolan of WABC-TV in New York, who was with the Marines.

The Marines were acting on a tip about a suspected insurgent hideout. After searching a building that turned out to be empty, the convoy of six vehicles started to make its way out of the town. Within a minute, the convoy came under fire from rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire.

"It seems pretty obvious that either they got very quickly organized after they found out that the Marines were in town," Dolan told ABC News Radio, "or they knew they were coming and had a plan to start attacking on the way out, because it didn't take long."

A rocket-propelled grenade hit one vehicle, killing two soldiers instantly, Dolan said. Two other soldiers died on the way to the hospital.

In a separate incident north of Baghdad, insurgents firing rocket-propelled grenades killed a soldier on patrol and wounded two others near the northern town of Duluiyah, the U.S. military told The Associated Press and Reuters.

[ROYC75]

WILL DO !

[Kris Kringle]

From Bill Hemmer on CNN. I'll see if I can find a net link. :thumb:

[memyselfI]

:thumb:

I posted a link below.

[Alton deFlat]

We'll be hoping for the best, but at the same time, thinking about the families of those 31 Marines.

[Kris Kringle]

I posted a link below. Good info. Thanks

[Kris Kringle]

We'll be hoping for the best, but at the same time, thinking about the families of those 31 Marines. Very true. Thanks

[Dr. Johnny Fever]

......We went to H.S. together. We also joined the Navy at the same time. After his enlistment in the Navy, he transfered over to the Marines.

As you probably know a Marine CH-53 sea stallion has gone down in Iraq and killed approx. 31 Marines. The odds are that it wasn't his helo, but I'd appreciate your positive thoughts and prayers for him and his family. I'm sure his wife is a basket case waiting for news to know that he's OK.

Thanks


http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20050126/i/r610999925.jpg

http://www.foxnews.com/images/151863/10_23_ch53.jpg
Jeez....it'd be nice if the media could have the decency to wait until next of kin are contacted before they throw people's lives into a tizzy. I know that will never happen though.

[jynni]

Jeez....it'd be nice if the media could have the decency to wait until next of kin are contacted before they throw people's lives into a tizzy. I know that will never happen though.

How do you know next of kin haven't been contacted yet? If there's anything that I've learned about having family in a war zone, it's that sometimes no news is good news.

[SCTrojan]

How do you know next of kin haven't been contacted yet? If there's anything that I've learned about having family in a war zone, it's that sometimes no news is good news.

Having had a bit of experience in this area, the media pretty much follow the military's wishes not to publish specific names before the NOK are notified. General info like where they were stationed normally doesn't fall under the agreement. I've actually had people identifying themselves as family members call me to ask if their loved ones had died. But without NOK, I couldn't tell them.

Unfortunately, the military has become very efficient at this sort of task in the last two years. I wish it wasn't so, but that's the world we live in.

[SCTrojan]

And I hope your buddy and everyone over there comes home safely. And soon.