Stewart-based Marine ID'd; one of 16 killed in military plane crash
NEWBURGH - News of a plane crash that claimed the lives of 16 service members is reverberating through the tight-knit community around Stewart Air National Guard Base.
Today, American flags affixed to front porches of numerous homes at the Stewart Terrace development, a privatized housing community in New Windsor affiliated with the base, were lowered.
The suburban community, positioned directly behind the base, was a collection of two-story homes with well-kept lawns.
At the Neptune Diner near the entrance to Stewart, Ann-Marie Rant said Tuesday that many of the customers are military and retired service members.
"You see a lot of respect for the military here," said Rant, whose family owns the diner.
Nine members of a Marine reserve squadron based at Stewart were involved in a crash of a KC130T aircraft in Mississippi on Monday, military officials said.
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Marine Sgt. Julian Kevianne, 31, who was stationed at Stewart, was identified as one of victims.
Kevianne's brother, Carlo, confirmed the death to the Detroit Free Press Tuesday night.
"The Marines knocked on my mother's door at 2 this morning," Kevianne said. "They said his plane went down, and they weren't able to find him."
The extended-range tanker was part of the Stewart-based Marine Aerial Refueling and Transport Squadron (VMGR) 452, Marine Air Group-49, 4th Marine Aircraft Wing, which is part of the Marine Forces Reserve headquartered in New Orleans. The local unit is known as "The Yankees" and its patch bears an interlocking N.Y. and pinstripes reminiscent of the baseball team.
In all, 15 Marines and one Navy corpsman died. Officials said that seven of the 16 were from North Carolina.
A pall fell over the base and nearby community Tuesday as details of the crash slowly trickled in. Flowers and U.S. flags were placed near the front entrance to the base, where media from several news organizations gathered throughout the day.
Area residents lamented the event as a tragedy.
"It's just horrible," said Fred Decker, a Gardiner resident, "and it hits even harder knowing the local impact."
Rant, the diner co-owner, said it is not uncommon for patrons to pick up the tab for members of the military when they go to pay their checks.
The names of those killed in the crash have not yet been released, pending family notification. U.S. Marine Forces Reserve spokesman Maj. Andrew Aranda said officials are working through that process.
"That involves a Casualty Assistance Calls officer, and usually they're accompanied by ... a member from the unit and a chaplain, as well," Aranda said in an interview Tuesday.
The cause of the crash, the deadliest Marine plane crash since 2005, still isn’t known. The FBI is assisting with the investigation, as is protocol, but foul play is not suspected.
Stewart is the home of the 105th Airlift Wing, an Air Mobility Command unit of the New York Air National Guard.
The Marine Aerial Refueling and Transport Squadron for more than 20 years has been a “tenant unit” at Stewart, according to Master Sgt. Sara Pastorello, who works in public affairs for the New York Air National Guard.
Ed Trosclair, a Marine Corps veteran of the Town of Newburgh, said he was heartbroken.
Trosclair said his nephew, a Marine stationed at Stewart, informed him of the crash. One of the people on the plane was a neighbor of Trosclair's nephew.
The crash's local impact only makes the situation more tragic, Trosclair said.
"It does affect me," he said. "It just hurts so bad, it just makes me want to cry.
Trosclair lowered a U.S. flag and a Marine Corps flag on his property to half-staff in response to the crash.
"My heart goes out to the family and friends of those affected by this," he said.
Philip Pipitone, a Campbell Hall resident shopping at Walmart in Newburgh on Tuesday, said the event was "a shame."
"These people didn't die in combat, but they dedicated their lives to serving our country," Pipitone said.
The military refueling plane crashed in a soybean field in rural Mississippi and left a debris field that spread for miles.
In a news release, Marine Forces Reserve spokesman Capt. Andrew Chrestman said the aircraft was transporting six Marines and one member of the Navy from Marine Corps Forces, Special Operations Command and their associated equipment "for routine small unit pre-deployment training at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz. All seven were from the Camp Lejeune-based 2nd Marine Raider Battalion."
Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus said the bodies of the New York-based Marines will be flown to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, then to Orange County, according to CNN.
According to the U.S. Naval Institute, the accident was the deadliest Marine plane crash since 2005.
"Marine Corps spokeswoman Capt. Sarah Burns confirmed that the last time 16 or more people died in a Marine Corps aviation incident was on Jan. 26, 2005, when 31 died in a CH-53E (helicopter) crash in al-Anbar Province in Iraq," the report said.
A KC-130T aircraft is an extended-range tanker version of the Lockheed C-130 Hercules that has been modified for aerial refueling.The C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop aircraft used primarily for military transportation. It's known as a workhorse used in refueling, humanitarian missions, firefighting, search and rescue, and combat missions, according to the Lockheed Martin website.
Information from the USA Today Network in Jackson, Mississippi and the Associated Press were used in this report. Poughkeepsie Journal photographer Seth Harrison contributed to this report.