Memorial Service Held for Coast Guard Crew

Ed Ronco, KCAW – Sitka
A memorial service will take place in Sitka tomorrow for three members of a Coast Guard helicopter crew who died last week.

The service will be held at 2:00 p.m. tomorrow at the Coast Guard hangar on Japonski Island. The Coast Guard’s highest ranking officer, Admiral Robert Papp, is scheduled to attend.

Coast Guard Lieutenant Sean Krueger, Petty Officer 1st Class Adam Hoke and Petty Officer 2nd Class Brett Banks died on Wednesday when their helicopter crashed in the water near La Push, Washington.

The survivor of the crash, Lieutenant Lance Leone (lee-OWN-ay), was scheduled to be released from the hospital sometime today, according to Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer Nathan Bradshaw, at which point he’ll meet with crash investigators.  Bradshaw says there’s no timeline for the investigation to be complete.

Download Audio (MP3)

Previous articleAlaska News Nightly: July 12, 2010
Next articleStudy Shows Native Alaskans Have Lower Rate of Alcohol Consumption Than Average Adult