IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 014-02
January 09, 2002

DOD IDENTIFIES SEVEN MARINES KILLED IN KC-130/R CRASH

The Department of Defense announced that the following Marines were killed as a result of the crash of a KC-130/R aircraft in Pakistan today:

Command Pilot: Captain Matthew W. Bancroft, 29, of Shasta, California. He joined the Marine Corps in 1994.
Co-Pilot: Captain Daniel G. McCollum, 29, of Richland, South Carolina He joined the Marine Corps in 1993.
Flight Engineer: Gunnery Sergeant Stephen L. Bryson, 35, of Montgomery, Alabama. He joined the Marine Corps in 1983.
Loadmaster: Staff Sergeant Scott N. Germosen, 37, of Queens, New York. He joined the Marine Corps in 1982.
Flight Mechanic: Sergeant Nathan P. Hays, 21, of Lincoln, Washington. He joined the Marine Corps in 1999.
Flight Navigator: Lance Corporal Bryan P. Bertrand, 23, of Coos Bay, Oregon. He joined the Marine Corps in 1998.
Radio Operator: Sergeant Jeannette L. Winters, 25, of Du Page, Illinois. She joined the Marine Corps in 1997.

The Marines are assigned to Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 352 (VMGR-352), the "Raiders." Elements of VMGR-352 are attached to Combined Task Force 58, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. VMGR-352 is home-based at the Marine Corps Air Station, Miramar, California.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Teachers' son 'was proud of his country'
Lance Corporal Bryan P. Bertrand, 23

As a teen-ager growing up in Oregon's Coos Bay, Bryan P. Bertrand hadn't considered the military as a potential career.

But after graduating from high school and dabbling with some college courses, the only son of two teachers was attracted to the Marine Corps and the opportunities it offered him.

His family joined him when he graduated from San Diego Marine Corps Recruit Depot and supported him when he went to San Antonio to train as a navigator in the KC-130 transport airplane.

"They were proud of him," recalled his sister, Rebecca Bertrand Peters, 28.

Bertrand, a lance corporal, last spoke to his parents a few days after Christmas, and he was excited at participating in America's war on terrorism, she said.

But on Wednesday, two Marines from Eugene, Ore., broke the news to the family: Bertrand, 23, was killed with six other Marines when a Hercules airplane crashed in Pakistan.

On Thursday, the flag flew at half-staff at Bertrand's alma mater, Marshfield High School. His boot camp photo was posted on the school's Web site.

Bertrand's father, Bruce Bertrand, is a teacher and junior varsity coach at the high school.

Principal Arnie Roblan said the school will remember Bryan Bertrand, who played basketball and football before graduating in 1997, and will grieve for the other six Marines as well.

"While the death of Lance Cpl. Bryan Bertrand hits close to home, we are mindful that they all belonged to someone else," Roblan said in a statement issued by the school. "We mourn for them as well."

The town's local newspaper, the Coos Bay World, reported that Bryan Bertrand had recently saved enough money to buy an electric guitar, one of his loves.

"He was an all-American-type kid," his position coach, William Lilley, told the World. "He was a kid that was proud of his country."

Photograph By M. R. Patterson, October 2002