Tragedy

As some of you may have heard, tragedy struck our Air Station Barber's Point family last night when we learned that one of our helicopters crashed with four crew members aboard. Three have been recovered, all of whom were killed, and they are still searching for the fourth member of the aircraft. I spent the evening last night with several Coast Guard wives, one of whom found out that her husband was aboard the helicopter and had died.

Brian knew and worked with all of these men, and at least two of them were very good friends of his. Unfortunately, Brian is stuck at the moment in the South Pacific on a small island in the middle of no where, with a plane that is broken down. I had to call him last night and tell him what happened to his comrades, and then he had the duty of telling the crew with him that they had lost their co-workers and friends. He wants to be here so badly, helping with the recovery efforts and sharing this grief with the air station, but it looks like he may be stuck where he is at for as long as another week until he receives a replacement part for the plane.

Please pray for the families and friends of these crew members, and please pray that Brian makes it home soon and safely, so that he can be in the place where his heart is, with his fellow members of the Coast Guard at Air Station Barber's Point.