One of the six U.S. Marines killed Thursday in a helicopter crash in Afghanistan is reportedly related to a Culpeper family who lost their son and brother nearly eight years ago in Iraq.
According to Leonard Cowherd, their nephew, Gunnery Sgt. Travis Riddick, is among the dead in the crash in the southern province of Helmand.
Cowherd is the father of West Point graduate Second Lt. Leonard M. Cowherd III, who was killed by enemy fire May 16, 2004 while securing a building near a mosque in Karbala. The younger Cowherd was 22, leaving behind a twin brother Charles, sister Laura, father and mother Mary Ann.
Mr. Leonard Cowherd, on his facebook page Friday morning, asked for prayers for Jennifer Riddick and her family. Jennifer Riddick, formerly Jennifer Cowherd Lovelace, lives in Honolulu, according to her facebook page, but is from Gordonsville, Va.
The DoD Buzz, an online defense and acquisition journal, ran a story in November, “Changing of the guard for Marine helos,” in which Travis Riddick was interviewed. The piece focused on the phasing out of Marine Corp CH-53 ‘Sea Stallion’ helicopters flying in Afghanistan today. According to the article, many of the same helicopters also flew in Vietnam.
“There is nothing that outflies it,” said Gunnery Sgt. Travis Riddick, the squadron’s quality assurance chief, and a CH-53D Sea Stallion crew chief, the DoD Buzz reported. “For everything the Marine Corps has put into this helicopter, we have gotten ten times out of it.”
According to the article, Riddick served with the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward’s) maintenance operations.
News outlets are reporting that the helicopter that crashed Thursday in Afghanistan was a Sea Stallion. An investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing.
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