US military identifies five troops killed in Mediterranean Sea helicopter crash
The US military has identified the five special operations troops who were killed when their helicopter crashed in the Mediterranean Sea during training on Friday.
Officials identified the army operatives as Stephen R Dwyer, 38, of Clarksville, Tennessee; Shane M Barnes, 34, of Sacramento, California; Tanner W Grone, 26, of Gorham, New Hampshire; Andrew Southard, 27, of Apache Junction, Arizona; and Cade M Wolfe, 24, of Mankato, Minnesota.
Dwyer and Barnes held the rank of chief warrant officer 3 and 2, respectively, according to the US defense department. Grone was a staff sergeant while Southard and Wolfe were sergeants.
The military said the five operatives were killed when their MH-60 Blackhawk helicopter was conducting aerial refueling and crashed as a result of an unspecified mid-flight emergency. The
US army’s combat readiness center on Monday was still conducting an investigation into the deadly crash.
Citing anonymous sources, the New
York Times reported on Sunday that the MH-60 went down off the coast of
Cyprus, which is the closest European Union country to Gaza, where Israel and Hamas have been fighting since early October.
The New York Times report said the army and navy had sent Delta Force and Seal team units to stand by in case they were needed to help evacuate American citizens from the region.
Such commandos are trained in hostage rescue operations. Some of the hostages taken by Hamas included Americans.
The White House has said it has no plans to put US military members on the ground in Gaza.
Joe Biden issued a statement mourning the military members’ deaths, noting that they died at the beginning of the weekend commemorating Veterans Day and said they embodied the reality that military members “put their lives on the line for our country every day”.