News-JournalOnline -- DELAND -- Overcome with emotion, Richard Gilbert sobbed Thursday as he prepared to leave for Ohio to bury his son, a U.S. Marine killed in this week's helicopter crash in Iraq.

At 3:20 p.m. Wednesday, the DeLand resident got the news that son Cpl. Richard Gilbert Jr., 26, was one of the Marines who died that morning when a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter crashed in a desert sandstorm near the town of Rutba, Iraq. Thirty others -- Marines and a Navy officer -- also perished in the crash.

"He was to come out of Iraq Feb. 8," Gilbert Sr., 55, said as he made preparations to go to Dayton, Ohio. "He was to come see me, but he never made it."

His son lived in Dayton and family members were going there to await his casket, he said.

"We have not been told if they recovered his body, but they told us they found his dog tags," the father said.

Richard Gilbert Jr. worked at Chrysler in Dayton and purchased his home at age 21. He joined the Marines Sept. 11, 2001, and was stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina before he shipped out to Iraq.

"I was very afraid for his life," said Richard Gilbert Sr., who last saw his son in June in Dayton.

Asked if he believes his son died for a good cause, Gilbert Sr., said "it is a tough one to answer."

"I think Richard himself thought it was a good cause."