CAMP LEJEUNE — Four days after a Marine KC-130T airplane crashed carrying seven members of the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion along with nine reservists, Marine Corps Special Operations Command Deputy Commander Col. Steven J. Grass addressed the media and formally announced the names of the fallen from prepared remarks lasting three minutes then answered questions for another six.

Grass kept his comments focused on the seven MARSOC team members who perished along with nine Marine reservists from Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 452, or VMGR-452, a reserve unit based at Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, New York. The flight originated Monday from Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point in Havelock and was scheduled to fly non-stop to Naval Air Field El Centro in California with the MARSOC personnel then traveling to Yuma, Arizona to begin their training mission. While over LeFlore County, Mississippi, the aircraft experienced a catastrophic event causing it to spiral downward into a soybean field killing all on board.

The seven Raiders killed were Staff Sgt. Robert H. Cox, 28, from Ventura, California, Staff Sgt. William J. Kundrat, 33, from Frederick, Maryland, Sgt. Chad E. Jenson, 25, from Los Angeles, California, Sgt. Talon R. Leach, 27, from Callaway Missouri, Sgt. Joseph J. Murray, 26, from Duval, Florida, Sgt. Dietrich A. Schmieman, 26, from Benton, Washington, and U.S. Navy Petty officer 2nd Class Ryan M. Lohrey, 30, from Middleton, Indiana.

This is the second time within 28 months that same Raider Company has suffered a loss. In March 2015, seven Raiders were killed along with four Louisiana National Guardsmen during a training exercise off the coast of Eglin, Florida when their UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed at sea killing all on board. Grass said Monday’s crash coupled with the 2015 incident is a “tragic coincidence” but went to say that “it does not affect how we move out and care for our fallen and take care of and move on as families and an organization.”