Six Marine Helicopter Crash Victims in Nepal Identified

Six Marine Helicopter Crash Victims in Nepal Identified
Military.com
Richard Sisk
May 18, 2015

The remains of six Marines and two Nepalese soldiers who died in the May 12 crash of their helicopter while on an earthquake relief mission in the Himalayas have been recovered and identified.

Marine Lt. Gen. John Wissler thanked U.S. and Nepalese search and recovery teams that found the charred wreckage of the Marine UH-1Y Huey helicopter in dense forest at an elevation of more than 11,000 feet and recovered the remains despite mountain storms and temperatures below freezing.

"You never hesitated in the joint effort to bring our brothers home. Everyone united -- the soldiers hiking through hazardous terrain, the pilots flying in uncertain weather conditions and the Nepalese special forces standing watch over our Marines on a mountainside at night," Wissler said.

"We honor our fallen comrades through our unselfish support to each other in this time of grief," said Wissler, commander of the 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force and of Joint Task Force 505 which arrived in Nepal on April 29 following the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that killed more than 8,000.

The six Marines aboard the Huey from Marine Light Attack Helicopter squadron 469 based at Camp Pendleton, Calif., were identified as:

Capt. Christopher L. Norgren, 31, of Sedgwick, Kans.
He was a UH-1Y pilot with HMLA-469, Marine Aircraft Group 39, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, Camp Pendleton.

Capt. Dustin R. Lukasiewicz, 29, of Harlan, Neb.
He also was a UH-1Y pilot and was with the same unit as Norgren.

Sgt. Ward M. Johnson, IV, 29, of Seminole, Fla.
He was a UH-1Y helicopter crew chief with HMLA-469.

Sgt. Eric M. Seaman, 30, of Riverside, Calif.
He was a UH-1Y helicopter crew chief with HMLA-469

Cpl. Sara A. Medina, 23, of Kane, Ill.
She was a combat photographer with Marine Corps Installations Pacific in Okinawa, Japan.

Lance Cpl. Jacob A. Hug, 22, of Maricopa, Ariz.
He was a combat videographer with Marine Corps Installations Pacific, Okinawa, Japan.

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Nepal Army Says Bodies of US Marines Recovered After Huey Crash

All 8 bodies found at crashed US Marine chopper, Nepal army says 
Associated Press
May 16, 2015

KATHMANDU, Nepal – The bodies of all eight people on board the U.S. Marine helicopter that disappeared this week during a relief mission in earthquake-hit Nepal have been recovered, Nepal's army said Saturday.

The wreckage was found on Friday and the first three bodies retrieved the same day by Nepalese and U.S. military personnel from the crash site in the mountains northeast of capital Kathmandu.

The Nepalese army said in a statement Saturday that the remaining five bodies were also recovered. 

The discovery of the wreckage followed days of intense search involving U.S. and Nepali aircraft and U.S. satellites.

The aircraft, with six Marines and two Nepali soldiers on board, went missing while delivering aid on Tuesday. Lt. Gen. John Wissler, commander of the Marine-led joint task force, told reporters in Kathmandu on Friday that his team could not immediately identify the cause of the crash of the UH-1 "Huey" or identify the bodies found. read more here

Marine from Florida Among Missing in Nepal

Marine from Altamonte Springs among those missing in Nepal chopper
Sgt. Mark Johnson IV's chopper went missing Tuesday
WESH2 News
By Chris Hush
Published 10:59 PM EDT May 13, 2015

"We were terrified the entire eight months he was in Afghanistan, but when he said he had to go to Nepal to deliver food, we were just proud of him,” Ward Johnson said.

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. —Army helicopters have joined the search for the missing U.S. Marine Corps helicopter that vanished Tuesday in Nepal.

The chopper was delivering disaster aid following the earthquake that killed more than 8,000 people in the country.

U.S. Marine Sgt. Mark Johnson IV, an Altamonte Springs native and father of two, is believed to have been on board that helicopter.

"We said, ‘Love you, be safe,’ and (those) were the last words we said to him,” said Shirley Johnson, Mark Johnson’s mother.

Shirley Johnson and her husband, Ward Johnson III, said they wait by their phones and the door for any indication that their son is OK.
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Six Marines Missing in Nepal Humanitarian Mission

US Marine helicopter missing in Nepal earthquake aid mission 
FOX News
May 12, 2015

A U.S. Marine Corps helicopter was reported missing in Nepal Tuesday while conducting disaster relief operations following the second deadly earthquake to strike the region in three weeks.

The Huey was delivering tarps and rice to victims near Charikot. Six U.S. Marines and two Nepalese soldiers were aboard the helicopter.

Pentagon Spokesman Col. Steve Warren said there are "no indications of a crash," because the area is rugged.

No emergency beacon was detected. Other aircraft nearby heard the helicopter's pilot say something about a "fuel problem." read more here

Sailors and Marines suffer after Japan nuclear disaster

In growing lawsuit, servicemembers fault TEPCO for radiation-related illnesses
Stars and Stripes
By Matthew M. Burke
Published: July 15, 2013

SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan — Five months after participating in humanitarian operations for the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami that led to nuclear disaster in Japan, Petty Officer 3rd Class Daniel Hair’s body began to betray him.

He had sharp hip pains, constant scabbing in his nose, back pain, memory loss, severe anxiety and a constant high-pitch ringing in his ears as his immune system began to attack his body. The diagnosis, he said, was a genetic immune system disease, which on X-rays looked to have made his hip joint jagged and his spine arthritic. He was put on a host of medications and eventually separated from the Navy job he loved.

Hair believes radiation is the cause. He is among 50 sailors and Marines in a growing lawsuit against Tokyo Electric Power Co., alleging that Japan’s nationalized utility mishandled the meltdown at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant that spewed radiation into the air and water.
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US Sailors exposed to radiation after Japan earthquake

US Sailors Sue Japan Utility in Radiation Exposure
Dec 28, 2012
Stars and Stripes
by Matthew M. Burke

SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan -- Eight sailors from the USS Ronald Reagan are suing Japan’s nationalized Tokyo Electric Power Co., claiming it lied about dangers from a radiation leak when they helped out after last year’s nuclear plant disaster and that they will almost certainly die prematurely as a result.

Their complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, seeks a jury trial and damages of $40 million each for being “rendered infirm” and their bodies being “poisoned” by radiation. It was filed on behalf of Lindsay Cooper, James Sutton, Kim Gieseking, Charles Yarris, Robert Miller, Christopher Bittner, Eric Membrila and Judy Goodwin.

Within days of the March 11, 2011, earthquake, tsunami and subsequent radiation leak from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, the USS Ronald Reagan was aiding in the search for survivors and bodies from just off Japan’s devastated east coast.

Six of the eight sailors worked on the flight deck during the operation and two worked in the air contamination department. Gieseking is also suing on behalf of her daughter, Autumn, who was born shortly after the deployment.
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Creed singer visits Yokosuka to thank troops for earthquake relief efforts

Creed singer visits Yokosuka to thank troops for earthquake relief efforts
By TREVOR ANDERSEN
Stars and Stripes
Published: March 18, 2012


YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — Scott Stapp, the lead singer of the rock band Creed, toured Sendai on Saturday to see the destruction left from last year’s massive tsunami. Then, he stopped by Yokosuka Naval Base to thank some of the troops for their efforts in the days and weeks following the March 11, 2011, disaster.

“It’s amazing what Operation Tomodachi did,” said Stapp who performed an acoustic concert Sunday aboard the USS George Washington. He was traveling in Japan with his wife, Jaclyn, a former Miss New York.

“We visited Sendai yesterday; we saw the destruction and we saw what you did, so we hoped to give everyone here a time to escape from their responsibilities and have fun,” Scott Stapp said. “We want to remind everyone how much we appreciate and support them.”

The rock singer also visited Haiti in 2010 to help the earthquake victims and was impressed by the humanitarian aid provided by the US military.
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Quake rocks Washington area, Pentagon, White House and Congress evacuated

Quake rocks Washington area, Pentagon evacuated
By Bob Lewis - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Aug 23, 2011 15:09:27 EDT
MINERAL, Va. — One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded on the East Coast shook buildings and rattled nerves from South Carolina to New England on Tuesday and forced the evacuations of parts of the Capitol, White House and Pentagon.

There were no immediate reports of deaths, but fire officials in Washington said there were at least some injuries. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake registered at magnitude 5.8 and was centered about 40 miles northwest of Richmond, Va.

Two nuclear reactors at the North Anna Power Station, in the same county as the epicenter, were automatically taken off line by safety systems, said Roger Hannah, a spokesman for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
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Japanese PM thanks U.S. troops during visit to devastated region

Japanese PM thanks U.S. troops during visit to devastated region
By SETH ROBSON
Stars and Stripes
Published: April 10, 2011
ISHINOMAKI, Japan — Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan praised U.S. troops for their efforts to help people recover from last month’s devastating earthquake and tsunami during a visit here Sunday.

Kan arrived in a motorcade with a large group of other Japanese dignitaries to check on the work of 36 U.S. soldiers and four Marines working alongside Japan Self-Defense Force personnel at Ishinomaki Commercial High School. He found the U.S. and Japanese troops hard at work using shovels, Bobcat mini bulldozers and a bucket loader brought by the Americans to remove the mud dumped by the tsunami on the school’s sports fields.

“The U.S. military is working alongside the Japanese Self-Defense Force,” Kan told a group of Japanese reporters. “I’m happy to see that happen here at this high school.”
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Japanese PM thanks U.S. troops

Forty-eight Marines from Camp Pendleton deploy to Japan

Specialists from Camp Pendleton deploy to Japan
March 19, 2011 | 3:32 pm
Forty-eight Marines from Camp Pendleton -- specialists in the detection and decontamination of nuclear and radiological hazards -- have deployed to Japan for the relief effort.

The Marines are part of a unit trained on how to discern the effects of chemical, nuclear, biological and radiological warfare agents and how to mitigate those effects.

-- Tony Perry in San Diego

PTSD Assistance Needed In Christchurch

PTSD Assistance Needed In Christchurch
September 5, 2010

The Royal New Zealand College of Genereal Practitioners is calling on health agencies to ensure the longer-term emotional after-effects of the earthquake are dealt with appropriately.

College deputy president, Dr Tony Townsend said it is likely that some people will suffer post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of the magnitude 7.1 earthquake.

"It's normal for people to feel anxious after a major event like this, and most people will recover.

"However, some people, especially women, children and the eldery, may continue to feel anxious for longer periods and it is essential that these people see their general practitioner.

"Parents and teachers of younger children should keep an eye on their charges over coming weeks to note any signs of behaviour change."

Dr Townsend said it is essential that health agencies plan and organise for enough trained people to be available at that time to assist people in need.

"Trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapy is widely reecognised as the most effective intervention for PTSD," he said.
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PTSD Assistance Needed In Christchurch

Staff Sgt. Josh Olson: A soldier's new reality

Staff Sgt. Josh Olson is an incredible young man but that is nothing new when you know the men and women serving in the military and the veterans of war. Staff Sgt. Olson lost his leg in Iraq but after that, he still wanted to serve. He wanted to help others.

He is teaching other soldiers how to shoot at Fort Benning but that was still not enough for him. Now he wants to help the people of Haiti recover from losing their limbs.

When I first heard about the Haiti earthquake I remembered what I was going through at an American hospital and I can only imagine what it's like in a country like Haiti. I'm a soldier; I was in a war zone. I knew I could get hurt. But they didn't see it coming.

Staff Sgt. John Olson was on patrol in Iraq with his Army unit on Oct. 27, 2003 when he was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade that tore off his right leg.

Josh Olson: A soldier's new reality
News Type: Event — Wed Mar 24, 2010 5:35 PM EDT
By Linda Dahlstrom

About the project
When the ground shook in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Jan. 12, the magnitude-7 earthquake left behind an estimated 4,000 to 6,000 instant amputees in a land where there's little mercy for disability.

This project follows one prosthetic team's efforts to help those victims, and also explores a grim truth: In the United States and around the world, the number of amputees is rising dramatically, driven by war, disease and natural disaster.

Through stories of U.S. veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and Haiti earthquake victims, msnbc.com explores the experiences of those who've lost limbs and the struggle they say is not just to survive, but to build a life worth living.

Josh Olson became one of the first soldiers to lose his leg at the hip level in the Iraq war when he was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade while on patrol in 2003. He was a 23-year-old Army staff sergeant when he had to grapple with the situation so many Haitians are suddenly facing.

His story, told in his own words, continues msnbc.com's special series of essays from amputee veterans recounting what it means to rebuild your life after losing a limb.

By Josh Olson, with Linda Dahlstrom

I always thought being a soldier was a best job in the world – I still do.

Ever since I was a young kid I wanted to enlist. It's kind of what the men in my family do. My grandpa, father and uncle were all in the military. When I turned 17 I enlisted in the Army; I was 18 when I shipped out.

A few years later my unit was one of the earliest to get to Iraq. We arrived in February 2003, a few months before the U.S. invasion. When we first go there it was pretty chaotic. All the Iraqi military and police were gone and there was a lot of looting in the streets. I wouldn't really say it was anarchy but pretty close to it. Our job was to reclaim government buildings and vehicles.

The night of Oct. 27, 2003, we were patrolling town when a rocket hit the back of the vehicle. A second rocket, the one that hit me, came about 90 seconds later. At first I thought I'd just gotten shot and I tried to walk it off. I did a quick physical inventory like they teach us: I checked my arms and hands and they were OK, but when I reached down to my right leg, I realized I had a problem.

I knew I was injured but didn't realize my leg was gone, blown off at the hip. I tried to crawl back to the vehicle and then my driver saw me.

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A soldiers new reality

Connecticut Guardsmen reflect on recovery mission at Hotel Montana

Connecticut Guardsmen reflect on recovery mission at Hotel Montana
By Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy
National Guard Bureau
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (3/19/10) - The earthquake that rocked this city left many of its structures damaged or destroyed, including one landmark that many say represented a sense of stability within the city.

The Hotel Montana, a four-star hotel where diplomats, dignitaries and other world leaders often stayed, collapsed during the Jan. 12 earthquake trapping many of its guests in the rubble.

A few made it out alive, and the task of finding and identifying those who didn’t fell to a variety of organizations, including search and recovery teams from France, Mexico, Canada and members of the U.S. military.

As a member of the services flight for the Connecticut Air National Guard’s 103rd Airlift Wing, Tech. Sgt. Bambi Putinas said her job encompasses not only personnel issues, food services and lodging, but also mortuary affairs.

“We all volunteered to come here, but we had no idea what we would be doing,” she said. “In the back of our minds, we all thought possibly mortuary affairs.”

When a call for volunteers to assist at the Hotel Montana site was put out, Putinas was one of many from her unit to volunteer for the mission.

“We would help with the preliminary identification of remains and make sure they got back home safely and also any articles, luggage, personal effects,” she said. “We helped to document what we found, and those also would be shipped home.”

Putinas said it was an important job to do, but also a difficult one.
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http://www.ng.mil/news/archives/2010/03/032310-Connecticut.aspx

Airman deployed to Haiti, died in quake

Airman deployed to Haiti, died in quake
By Laurie Ure, CNN Pentagon Producer
March 10, 2010 7:45 p.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Air Force Lt. Col. Ken Bourland was among those killed in January's Haiti earthquake.
Bourland died inside the quake-ravaged Hotel Montana
Bourland's wife went to Haiti to stand near where her husband was last seen alive
Peggy Bourland says she's "unsure" what the future holds
Washington (CNN) -- Air Force Lt. Col. Ken Bourland hugged his wife, Peggy, goodbye and headed out for his two-day mission.

The date was January 12, and the destination was Haiti.

Neither knew it would be the last time they'd see one another.

Upon his arrival in Port-au-Prince, Ken Bourland sent his wife an e-mail saying he had settled into his hotel room.

Ten minutes later, Peggy Bourland and the couple's three sons began watching television back in their suburban Fort Lauderdale, Florida, home. That's when the news broke: Haiti had been struck by a major earthquake.

She describes the panic that set in.
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http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/03/10/airforce.major.haiti/index.html?hpt=C2

Big Kenny plays for troops in Haiti

After suffering a personal loss, country star plays for troops in Haiti
By Seth Robson Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Sunday, March 7, 2010

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – When Big Kenny, half of the colorful country music duo Big & Rich, heard a friend was trapped beneath the rubble after last month’s earthquake in Haiti, he didn’t hesitate.

The man who co-wrote “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)” flew to Port-au-Prince to search for his friend, renewable energy specialist Walt Rattman, in the ruins on the Hotel Montana. Sadly, Kenny’s friend didn’t make it, although his body was recovered from the rubble.

But rather than dwell on his loss Kenny, whose real name is William Alphin, set out to help the Haitian people and spent five days in the devastated capital distributing aid. When he traveled into a slum called Cité Soleil to buy food for hungry, elderly Haitians, he met soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division.

The country star was so moved by the U.S. military efforts to bring relief to the struggling nation that he decided to return to Haiti last Thursday and play a series of concerts for personnel that culminated in a performance for the 82nd on the waterfront at Port-au-Prince.

“I was blown away,” Kenny said of the soldiers’ relief work. “I’m so proud and my heart is just completely moved by the outpouring of hope and compassion. It’s been an amazing showing of the heart of the American armed forces.”
read more here
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=68505

South Florida woman is pulled from a collapsed supermarket in Haiti

Added On January 18, 2010
A South Florida woman is pulled from a collapsed supermarket in Haiti, after five days beneath the rubble. WFOR reports

LT deployed to Afghanistan, hears of family in Haiti

Kirsty Wigglesworth / The Associated Press Lt. Ramses Brunache, attached to the 97th Military Police Battalion out of Fort Riley, Kansas, was born in Haiti and is trying to get redeployed to assist in the earthquake-torn country.

Haiti native in Afghan war wants chance to help

By Heidi Vogt - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Jan 18, 2010 8:29:39 EST

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — Haitian-American Lt. Ramses Brunache was supposed to be the one in danger in Afghanistan. Now his sister is dead, his homeland is broken and he’s trying to return to help save Haiti.

Brunache found out about Tuesday’s earthquake in a 3 a.m. phone call from his wife at the base where he’s stationed in dusty Kandahar province, the Taliban’s southern heartland. He’s been here since July as a communications officer with the 97th Military Police Battalion out of Fort Riley, Kansas.

“She told me something happened in Haiti and my sister is not going to make it,” he said.

His wife lives in Atlanta and the only information she had at that point was from a text message saying that his sister, Immacula, and her three young daughters had been inside their house in Port-au-Prince when it collapsed. Her 12-year-old son was the only one who made it out.

Brunache went straight to the base’s Internet cafe and spent hours scouring news sites for details. He watched the death toll rise from hundreds to thousands from the magnitude-7.0 quake.

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Haiti native in Afghan war wants chance to help

Florida DCF, Red Cross help 180 Haiti evacuees arriving at Sanford airport

DCF, Red Cross help 180 Haiti evacuees arriving at Sanford airport

By Susan Jacobson and Anika Myers Palm

Orlando Sentinel

2:55 a.m. EST, January 17, 2010


Dr. Manoucheka Vieux doesn't know if she'll ever see her husband again.

A police inspector in Haiti, he never came home after Tuesday's devastating earthquake, and she hasn't been able to reach him since.

Fearful that disease from decomposing bodies in Haiti would harm their 10-month-old son, Chrys Valin, Vieux, a general practitioner, fled to Central Florida on Saturday with her baby. She was one of 180 people who landed at Orlando Sanford International Airport just after 5 p.m. on a U.S. Air Force C-17 transport airplane.

More than six hours later, Vieux was settling into a room at the Renaissance Orlando Airport Hotel and recounting her ordeal. Her immediate plan was to fly to South Florida today to stay with her sister. Beyond that, "I don't know," an exhausted Vieux said. "I just want to see my baby safe. I'm living with hope to see my husband again."

Vieux and the other passengers received free hotel stays courtesy of the state Department of Children and Families, which also helped them connect with family and friends in the U.S. The American Red Cross was among the other agencies that assisted the evacuees, including a handful of people who left the airplane in wheelchairs.
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180 Haiti evacuees arriving at Sanford airport


also
Exclusive Haiti Earthquake Video
Sunday, January 17, 2010 10:50:29 AM
ORLANDO -- Central Florida got a unique view of the deadly earthquake in Haiti from right in the middle of it all.

News 13’s Christine Webb and the Orlando-based New Missions outreach group were stranded in the country after the quake hit Tuesday.

A New Missions videographer caught the quake as it was happening. The video was taken at the New Missions headquarters in Haiti southeast of Port-au-Prince.

The group, which also included several high school students from The First Academy, evacuated Haiti Friday, and flew into Orlando International Airport just after midnight Saturday. Christine and her fellow mission volunteers said they were grateful to be home.
Exclusive Haiti Earthquake Video

Italy Quake leaves 150 dead, 1,500 injured and 70,000 homeless

150 dead, 1,500+ injured after quake jolts Italy
Agence France-Presse
Published: Monday April 6, 2009


L'AQUILA, Italy (AFP) – Rescuers scrambled in the dark Tuesday to find survivors from a powerful earthquake in central Italy that killed at least 150 people as thousands of homeless sought shelter in hastily built tent cities.

With nightfall adding to the driving rain hampering the search, emergency services said 100 people had been pulled alive from the rubble of Renaissance and Baroque buildings around the historic town L'Aquila since the quake struck early Monday.

The government has estimated that up to 70,000 people have been left homeless by the quake which measured magnitude 6.2 that damaged 10,000 buildings, many beyond repair.
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150 dead, 1,500+ injured after quake jolts Italy

Children beg for aid as Pakistan's quake survivors shiver in mountain cold

Children beg for aid as Pakistan's quake survivors shiver in mountain cold
By ASHRAF KHAN | Associated Press Writer
12:47 PM EDT, October 30, 2008

WAM, Pakistan (AP) _ Children begged for food from trucks passing through Pakistan's quake zone Thursday as the death toll rose to 215 and survivors prepared for another frigid night camped out amid wrecked mountain villages.

Provincial government minister Zamrak Khan said 215 people died and hospitals were still treating dozens of people who were seriously injured in the 6.4-magnitude quake that struck before dawn Wednesday.

Soldiers and foreign aid groups distributed blankets, warm clothes and tents, in Baluchistan province, near the Afghan border, but many among the estimated 15,000 homeless complained of receiving little help.

"The earthquake destroyed our houses, but now the government's slow response is killing us," said Moosa Kaleem, sitting with his wife and four children in the town of Ziarat. "We cannot spend another night in this chilling weather, especially the kids."
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