WASHINGTON (NEWS CENTER) — The remains of a 26-year-old Marine from Bethel killed in an Aug. 5 Osprey crash off Australia, along with the two other Marines involved, have been recovered.
According to military newspaper Stars and Stripes, citing a statement from Japan-based III Marine Expeditionary Force, the bodies of Capt. Benjamin Cross, 21-year-old Cpl. Nathaniel Ordway of Kansas and 19-year-old Lance Cpl. Ruben Velasco of California were recovered from the crashed aircraft and will soon be returned to their families.
Capt. Cross had been stationed on the Japanese island of Okinawa for the past year, family members told the Portland Press Herald, and he had been training in Australia for the last three months.
His parents Valerie and Robert Cross and older brother Ryan Cross told NECN the Marine was living his dream, flying aircraft and serving in the military.
"He was really happy and felt like he finally made it," said Robert.
Cross, who was a first lieutenant at the time of the crash, was posthumously promoted to captain.