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thedrifter
03-27-03, 11:25 AM
March 25, 2003

Comrades-in-arms honor CH-46 crash victims

By Gordon Lubold
Times staff writer



AT AN AIRBASE NEAR THE IRAQI BORDER — Cpl. George Cooper stood bravely before about 350 Marines in a hangar here and talked about how losing a friend can make them stronger.
Cooper spoke at an emotional memorial service held here March 23 to remember four Marines killed in a CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter crash in southern Iraq a few days before that claimed the life of his friend, Staff Sgt. Kendall Watersbey, three other U.S. Marines and eight British Royal Marines.

Cooper said Watersbey, a San Diego native and one of two crew chiefs on board that night, inspired those around him to move on even when life got them down. All four were fighting for something they believed in.

“They’ve distinguished themselves in ways that most of us will never get a chance to do,” Cooper said, as news filtered through this base that as many as 50 more Marines had been injured or killed that afternoon in fighting Iraqi forces to the north.

The CH-46 was one of several choppers attempting to drop British and U.S. troops in southern Iraq near the Faw Peninsula March 21 when it flailed and fell from the sky. All those on board were killed, marking the first Marine deaths since the beginning of the conflict with Iraq.

The other U.S. Marines killed were Capt. Jay Aubin, of Winslow, Maine; Capt. Ryan Beaupre; of St. Anne, Ill.; and Cpl. Brian Kennedy of Houston. A friend or colleague spoke about each one. Sgt. Jacek Teller remembered Kennedy’s smile from “ear to ear.” Capt. Matthew Belisle talked about how Beaupre’s positive attitude and self-effacing manner made him one of the best men he knew. And Maj. Darrell Platz told mourners that Aubin was a proud American, a fine Marine and a respected pilot.

“We called you Sweet Pea, and for those that knew you, they knew why,” Platz said of Aubin.

Maj. Gen. James Amos, commanding general of the 3rd Marine Air Wing, Miramar Air Station, Calif., seemed to go out of his way to defend the decision to launch the mission that night, saying the decision was a sound one and one he would make again if he had the chance. Dust storms may have created visibility conditions that hampered the mission, although officials have not yet said what caused the accident.

The problem may have been more than just visibility. The ‘fog of war’ may have had an impact in those early hours as fighter attack jets, helicopters and ground forces prepared for the invasion into Iraq.

“There were definitely some challenges that night,” said Col. Jon Miclot, operations officer for the 3rd Marine Air Wing, speaking to reporters March 23. Miclot said he was not aware of any grumbling among chopper pilots that the mission should have been scrubbed.

He talked to some of them in the days after the accident. “They understood the challenges,” he said.

Despite the losses, Amos reassured the Marines that they have the training and know-how to move on.

“We have a fight ahead on our hands and our brothers are counting on us,” Amos said. “We cannot fail and we will not fail.”

Taps was played on dueling bugles and the color guard walked silently out of the hangar, dabbing at their eyes.

Sempers,

Roger