3 Marines Die in Crash
CAMP PENDLETON — Three Marines were killed and one severely injured when their helicopter crashed Thursday night in a remote part of this sprawling base, a Marine Corps spokesman said.
The three were aboard a UH-1 when it crashed in the rugged Talega Canyon area. The UH-1, called the Huey, generally carries a crew of four Marines.
“Our hearts go out to the families,” said Maj. T.V. Johnson, a Marine Corps spokesman. “Our priority is providing support for them.”
Considered the most widely used helicopter in the world, the Huey provides resupply, troop transport, medical evacuation and combat support.
The aircraft, first used in the Vietnam War and upgraded numerous times since then, can be armed with rockets and machine guns.
Helicopter squadrons from Camp Pendleton and Miramar Marine Corps Air Station are training to return to Iraq in coming weeks. About 20,000 Marines from Camp Pendleton and 5,000 from Camp Lejeune, N.C., have been assigned to relieve the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division in an area west of Baghdad.
Helicopters will play a key role in the Marines’ new mission, both in ferrying troops and equipment and providing protection for convoys from attacks from insurgents.
Dubbed Desert Talon, ground troops and helicopter squads are training in the desert outside Yuma, Ariz., including mock evacuations by helicopters.
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