Marines killed in Nepal ID’d

Lance Cpl. Jacob Hug, a combat videographer, considered being in the Marine Corps as “starting his life,” his mother told reporters in Phoenix.

The last words that Sgt. Ward Johnson’s parents sent their son were: “Love you, be safe.”

And the final communication from Nepal that Capt. Chris Norgren sent his parents was on Mother’s Day. He texted a message of love and made sure flowers were sent to his mother. His mother, Terri, texted back: “I love you Chris. I’m proud of you.”

The six Marines who died in the crash of their UH-1Y Huey helicopter during a disaster relief mission in Nepal were from different parts of America: Nebraska, Kansas, Florida, Southern California, Illinois and Arizona.

But their families said they shared a devotion to their job and a sense that their mission, to bring supplies to desperate villagers in an earthquake-stricken country, was important.

The six Marines were assigned to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 469 from Camp Pendleton. The squadron was in the Philippines on a training mission when the Marines and their aircraft were redirected to the relief mission in Nepal.

The six were identified Sunday:

Capt. Dustin Lukasiewicz, a pilot and native of Nebraska. His wife, who is pregnant, lives in Fallbrook.

Capt. Chris Norgren, also a pilot, from Wichita, Kansas.

Sgt. Ward Johnson, a crew chief, from Altamonte Springs, Florida.

Sgt. Eric Seaman, a crew chief, from southern Riverside County, California.

Cpl. Sara Medina, a combat photographer, from Illinois, who was assigned to Marine forces in Okinawa, Japan.

Lance Cpl. Jacob Hug, from Arizona.