KRISTV.com -- CORPUS CHRISTI - Back in the mid 90's Captain Paul Alaniz was a substitute teacher at Miller High School. The 32-year old Marine was the co-pilot of that helicopter that crashed Wednesday,during a sandstorm in Western Iraq.

The chopper went down near a town called Rutbah, killing all 31 on board. The captain's family now lives in North Texas. Captain Paul Alaniz has a big joy in life, simply spending time with his 18-month-old baby girl, Yvette and his wife Thelma, also a Marine. Captain Alaniz's brother Marc Pizano told 6News the couple just got married before his deployment last August.

"This was his second deployment, so in between the first and second he was spending a lot of time with family, using that time, that quality time." said Pizano. His brother describes Alaniz as a family man, who loved flying helicopters, similar to this one, for the Marine Corps.