Brian Bland

Saturday, January 29 2005 @ 10:26 AM EST

Casper Star & Tribune -- A Wyoming Marine was among the 31 servicemen killed in a helicopter crash in Iraq Wednesday, the deadliest day since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Staff Sgt. Brian Bland, 26, was a 1995 graduate of Newcastle High School according to news reports. Friends say he joined the military straight out of high school and re-enlisted twice, hoping to retire from the service.

"He was just always friendly, you know. I don't anybody who ever had a problem with him," said Kevin Bonnar of Newcastle. "He was just a good Marine. He never complained about anything and he kind of looked at it as a job. They took care of him and he did his best for them."

Funeral services will be held in Newcastle when his body is returned home.

Bland grew up in Newcastle. His father has passed away, and his mother now lives in Rapid City, S.D. He is survived by his brother Jeremy Bland of Sheridan and two uncles in Newcastle.

Bonnar said he hadn't heard from Bland for about year ever since he was stationed in Hawaii. Bland took every opportunity to come visit his friends and family.

"I remember he had five days off and he drove all the way out from 29 Palms to just hang out here for a couple of days. He brought a buddy with, and it was really great," Bonnar said.

Bland is the 11th serviceman with Wyoming ties killed in action since 2001. He was one of 30 Marines and a Navy medic aboard a CH-53E Super Stallion who were killed when it crashed in a sandstorm Wednesday. The helicopter went down as troops were being transported in election security operations. The military was investigating cause of the crash and gave no indication there was enemy fire.

The helicopter crew was from the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego.

At least 27 of the dead were based at Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay, according to Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, who said he was informed of the loss by the Marines on Wednesday. It was the single worst loss of Hawaii troops since the attack on Pearl Harbor more than 60 years ago.

They came from the four corners of America and states in between. From Wyoming to Florida to New Hampshire, California to Oregon, families shared their grief Thursday for the Hawaii-based troops who died.

A day after the Pentagon released the news, some families went public with names. The Pentagon said it would release no information about the victims until all families were notified.

The parents of Navy corpsman John Daniel House told the Ventura County (Calif.) Star of how their son, a medic attached to the Marine unit and the only sailor to die in the crash, wrote letters home describing the camaraderie and responsibility he felt for his fellow soldiers.

"In one of the letters, he wrote, 'I know all of them ... even in the dark, by their mannerisms,"' Susan House of Simi Valley, Calif., read, choking back tears. "'I don't know how I am going to deal with losing any of them. It is my job to take care of them and keep them safe."'

Ohio lost at least three Marines in the crash.

Killed were Cpl. Richard Gilbert Jr., 28, of Dayton, Lance Cpl. Jonathan Edward Etterling, 22, of Wheelersburg, and Michael Finke Jr., 28, of Wadsworth, family members said.

Etterling, of Wheelersburg, Ohio, had just talked to his parents on Saturday, telling them he was tired and had lost more than 15 pounds. They were informed by the military on Wednesday that he had died in the crash.

"I went in to change clothes and when I saw the Marines in the house, I prayed, 'Let him be wounded, let him be wounded,"' said his father, William Etterling. "My heart just fell."

Finke, of Wadsworth, Ohio, a Marine for nine years, had told his family a day earlier that he was headed on a special mission.

His stepmother said she doesn't believe there is any justification for the war that claimed his life.

"I'm sure there are many other parents out there that don't think there is, either," Nadine Finke said.

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