A Shawnee native died Monday in Iraq when the helicopter in which he and other Marines were riding crashed
shortly after take off.
Staff Sgt. Aaron Dean
White, 27, and three others
were killed when the CH-46
Sea Knight helicopter they
were flying on a resupply mission plummeted into the Shat
al-Hillah canal. The crash occurred about 60 miles south
of Baghdad, according to U.S.
Central Command.
A fifth Marine drowned
when he jumped into the water to save the victims.
White, a 1994 graduate of
Shawnee High School, was
married and had a daughter
who just celebrated her first
birthday, according to the
Shawnee News-Star.
White's sister, who also
serves in the armed forces,
flew in from Germany on
Tuesday night to be with the
family, the paper reported.
White and the three others
in the helicopter were assigned to Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 364 of the
3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, also
known as the "Purple Foxes."
The wing was based out of
Camp Pendleton, Calif.
The three others who were
killed in the helicopter were
Capt. Andrew David Lamont,
31, of Eureka, Calif.; Lance
Cpl. Jason William Moore, 21,
of San Marcos, Calif.; and 1st
Lt. Timothy Louis Ryan, 30, of
Aurora, Ill.
Sgt. Kirk Allen Straseskie,
23, of Beaver Dam, Wis., died
in the canal when he jumped
in to rescue the others.
The cause of the crash is
under investigation. Pentagon
officials say there was no indication that it was the result of
hostile fire.
