West
Fathers, uncle of Marines killed in California helicopter crash speak out: 'Should not have happened'
Two fathers and the uncle of three of five Marines killed in a helicopter crash during a storm in Southern California this week are lamenting their deaths as avoidable.
“Maybe this is the one instance to where they wake the f— up and they say, ‘What are we doing to our service members? We’ve got to stop this,’” Steven Langen, father of Sgt. Alec Langen, 23, told the New York Post on Saturday.
Sgt. Alec Langen was serving as crew chief on the CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter when it crashed in the mountains near San Diego on Tuesday night.
Steven Langen called their deaths, “an all too familiar story in the military community.”
5 US MARINES CONFIRMED DEAD AFTER HELICOPTER WENT MISSING IN CALIFORNIA
The five Marines who were killed in a CH-53E helicopter crash in Pine Valley, Calif., on Feb. 6, have been identified. From left to right, Lance Cpl. Donovan Davis, 21, of Olathe, Kan., Sgt. Alec Langen, 23, of Chandler, Ariz., Capt. Benjamin Moulton, 27, of Emmett, Idaho, Capt. Jack Casey, 26, of Dover, N.H., and Capt. Miguel Nava, 28, of Traverse City, Mich. (U.S. Marine Corps | CalFIRE)
Bradford Moulton, whose nephew was Capt. Benjamin Moulton, 27, said he wished the men would have been kept “on the ground” during the “thousand-year storm” when they were flying from Creech Air Force Base in Nevada to Marine Corps Air Station Miramar near San Diego on a routine training exercise.
“They’re Marines, they fly in nasty weather, they do what they’re supposed to do,” he told the Post, “but I sure wish the operations officer would have kept them on the ground.” Moulton was one of two pilots on the helicopter.
Gregory Davis, a retired naval aviation officer and Lance Cpl. Donovan Davis’ father stated, “Not only did it not have to happen, it should not have happened.”
MARINE KILLED IN CAMP PENDLETON TRAINING EXERCISE IDENTIFIED
Davis, 21, also served as a crew chief on the helicopter.
He added of his son, “He was so proud to be a Marine, he loved his job, he loved what he did. “We’re proud of Donovan and everything he was able to accomplish in his short 21 years.”
Langen said the only thing his son asked for on his 17th birthday was to enlist in the Marines. “The next thing you know, (there’s) a knock at the door. And there’s the Marine recruiter that is standing there,” he remembered.
Moulton shared that Benjamin was determined on his career goals. “He was going to be a Marine pilot no matter what,” he said. The 27-year-old was a pilot on the helicopter along with Capt. Jack Casey, 26, who was also killed in the crash.
Capt. Miguel Nava, 28, was the fifth victim in the crash.
“Miguel was the kindest soul you’d ever meet,” a fundraising page for his family said of him. “His warmth, positive energy, and compassion will be missed by all who were grateful to know him.”
US MILITARY AIRCRAFT CRASHES IN MEDITERRANEAN SEA AFTER TRAINING MISHAP, ‘NO INDICATION’ OF HOSTILE ACTIVITY
Lt. Col. Nicholas J. Harvey, commanding officer of the Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 361 (HMH-361), said of the five Marines after the crash: “We have been confronted with a tragedy that is every service family’s worst fear. Our top priority now is supporting the families of our fallen heroes, and we ask for your respect and understanding as they grieve. The Flying Tigers family stands strong and includes the friends and community who have supported our squadron during this challenging time. We will get through this together.”
The last known contact with the Super Stallion was at about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, when waves of downpours and snow were hitting the region during an “atmospheric river.”
The CH-53E Super Stallion is the largest helicopter in the military and is designed to fly through bad weather, even at night.
The cause of the crash is currently under investigation.
A U.S. military CV-22 Osprey takes off from Iwakuni base, Yamaguchi prefecture, western Japan. The Osprey fleet was grounded in December after eight Air Force service members were killed in a crash off Japan. (Kyodo News via AP / File)
Davis enlisted in the Marine Corps on Sept. 3, 2019, and was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal on Jan. 1 of this year. His decorations include the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and a Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.
Langen enlisted in the Marine Corps on Sept. 14, 2017, and was promoted to the rank of Sergeant on Oct. 1, 2022. His decorations include the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal and two Sea Service Deployment Ribbons.
Moulton was commissioned into the Marine Corps on March 29, 2019, and was promoted to the rank of Captain on Aug. 1, 2023. His decorations include the National Defense Service Medal.
Meanwhile, Casey was commissioned in the Marine Corps on May 16, 2019, and was promoted to the rank of Captain on Sept. 1, 2023. His decorations include the National Defense Service Medal.
Nava was commissioned into the Marine Corps on May 26, 2017, and was promoted to the rank of Captain on Nov. 1, 2021. His decorations include the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal and Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.
The entrance to Marine Corps base Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, Calif. (AP Photo / Gregory Bull / File)
In December, a Marine was killed and 14 others injured in a training crash at Camp Pendleton in Southern California when a tactical vehicle rolled over.
Last November, five Army special operations soldiers were killed in a training “mishap” when their helicopter crashed into the Mediterranean and eight Air Force service members died in an Osprey crash off the coast of Japan when the aircraft suffered a mechanical failure.
The Osprey fleet has been grounded since the crash as the Air Force weighs when it’s safe to return to service.
The Marines didn’t immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s Saturday evening request for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.
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LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — The Vegas Golden Knights return to the ice for Game 3 against the Mammoth in Utah on Friday.
This will mark the first Stanley Cup Playoff game in Salt Lake City. Active franchises have an all-time record of 12-18-1 in their first-ever postseason home game.
Vegas has a 7-4 playoff series record when tied 1-1. That record falls to 2-4 when they drop Game 3.
Golden Knights captain Mark Stone is two playoff points shy (74) of surpassing Jonathan Marchessault (75) for most in franchise history.
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Puck drop is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
Washington
2026 NFL Draft Grades | Washington applauded for selecting ‘instant alpha’ linebacker Sonny Styles
The views and opinions expressed in this article do not reflect the opinion of the team.
The Commanders welcomed new defensive coordinator Daronte Jones earlier this year, and yesterday on Night 1 in Pittsburgh, the DC was gifted one of the best defensive prospects in college football. With the No. 7 pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, Washington selected a versatile and supremely athletic young talent in Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles.
There were many thoughts about what Washington might do at the position over the last several months, but there were no conflicted feelings on Peters end when the Commanders got on the clock and he saw who was there. Styles was the clear pick. “Looking at this, we wanted to get the best player. We didn’t want to draft for need, and we felt the best player staring us in the face was a linebacker,” Peters said.
Styles was evidently a guy Washington was very high on. “I’ve been smiling ear to ear for a while now,” Peters said. “He’s a true Commander, through and through.” There is a lot about the 21-year-old linebacker that has Washington excited. They believe he will be a “great blitzer.” He can cover a lot of ground with his speed and burst, and that, Peters emphasized, is “a big deal in this league.” Styles has also shown he can play in multiple linebacker roles.
The Commanders were looking for more of a spark on defense after a disappointing 2025 season. With his dynamism, freakish athleticism and tackling prowess, it appears Styles has the goods to deliver an immediate boost to the unit.
Here’s how draft pundits graded the move:
The Smithsonian Institution’s carousel is back open for business Friday after being closed for nearly three years for restoration and refurbishments.
Brightly painted ponies have been going round and round, delighting children, for centuries. But the joys they bring haven’t always been accessible to everyone.
The ribbon-cutting at the Smithsonian National Carousel nodded to this fact.
William A. Smith / AP
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AP
The first to ride the reopened carousel was a group of African American adults who arrived from Baltimore. In the 1960s, when many of them were kids, they were among the first to desegregate the carousel when it was located at Gwynn Oak Amusement Park outside of Baltimore.
“My family, we used to go there all the time once they let us in,” said Janice Chance, who was 13 when she first rode the carousel in 1966. Chance’s son was a Marine who died in Afghanistan in 2008. She said to have the carousel back on the National Mall means a lot to her and the many others who fought for “the freedoms of this country.”
“We are together, we’re having fun, but we remember the struggle and how we got here,” said Chance.
Desegregating Gwynn Oak Amusement Park took several years of protests by Black and white activists: It was finally integrated on Aug. 28, 1963, the same day that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr gave his “I Have A Dream” speech on the National Mall.
“So while that was occurring in D.C., quiet activism with little people was occurring on the same date,” said Sharon Langley, who was the first Black child to ride the carousel that day. She was just 11 months old. Years later, Langley co-wrote a children’s book about it. This week, she rode again, on a horse called Freedom Rider — after the desegregating riders. She believes it’s fitting the carousel should be “with all the monuments of freedom… This is a monument for children to come and enjoy, ride and experience the pursuit of happiness.”
After Hurricane Agnes devastated Gwynn Oak’s rides and buildings, the park closed in 1973 and the carousel went into storage. Shortly after, then Smithsonian Secretary S. Dillon Ripley decided it was time to replace the aging carousel on the National Mall. “As Ripley’s original carousel began to show its age, the Smithsonian began looking for a suitably grand replacement,” Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch III wrote in Smithsonian Magazine. “Gwynn Oak’s hand-carved beauty, an emblem of the struggle for civil rights, fit the bill.”
With 54 horses, a sea monster, a pig and two chariots, the restored Gwynn Oak carousel stands again in front of the Smithsonian’s Arts and Industries Building.
Its Civil Rights history might’ve been lost on the kids rushing onto the platform to mount their favorite horses at the ribbon-cutting this week. Seven-year-old Lucas Platt from Virginia gives the carousel high marks. “It’s actually one of the fastest carousels I’ve really been on,” he said. “Usually they’re much slower than this. It’s great. I really like it. Nothing bad about it.”
Copyright 2026 NPR
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