by Mark Tuufuli // Staff Writer
A sacrifice comes in many forms and shapes, such as life, and how precious it is. Four Marines were killed when their helicopter crashed while they were practicing desert landings in Southern California, the Miramar Air Station in San Diego on Wednesday April 4, 2018.
The Marines took off from a ground-combat center in the city of Twenty-Nine Palms for the routine training mission on Tuesday. The massive CH-53E Super Stallion crashed about 100 miles to the south in a remote desert area just outside of El Centro, near the U.S.-Mexico border. There were no survivors.
The helicopter was with the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing out of Miramar Air Station in San Diego. Practicing desert landings is a routine part of training, said Capt. Morgan Frazer with the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.
Such landings also require extremely good communication among a team, since some crew members might not be able to see anything at all, she said. The cause of the crash is under investigation and could take months to determine.
CHS JROTC sophomore Eden Blanco stated, “Pretty much all I heard is that the helicopter crashed here in California, there have already been 3 crashes like that before and I feel like the officers that were piloting the helicopter haven’t had enough training which if they did, it could’ve prevented the crash.” Other students just like Eder Blanco, say the same about the incident.
CHS JROTC sophomore Chris Ganaciases explained, “All I know is that it happened a few days ago, on the border of New Mexico and California. What could have prevented this would be of course if their training would have been more evaluated.”
In honor and memory of the 4 marines that perished in the crash, their service to our country will not go unnoticed.
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