First Lt. Benjamin Cross, 26, was an aviator in the Marines.
A Maine native was one three Marines killed when their Osprey aircraft crashed into the sea off the east coast of Australia on Saturday while trying to land.
First Lt. Benjamin “Ben” Robert Cross, 26, whose family lives in Bethel, had been training in Australia for the past three months but has been based out of Okinawa, Japan, for the past year, family members said. Twenty-three of 26 personnel aboard the aircraft were rescued by small boats nearby, the Marine base Camp Butler in Japan said in a statement Saturday.
Cross, who attended the Virginia Military Institute on a full scholarship, was a marine aviator who loved to fly, his family said Sunday. His family learned that Cross was missing Saturday morning. Military officials notified the family early Sunday morning that Cross was now considered dead.
“He was so smart and just a great guy, ” said Ryan Cross, his brother.
The MV-22 Osprey involved in the crash had launched from the USS Bonhomme Richard and was conducting regularly scheduled operations when it crashed into the water, the statement said. The ship’s small boats and aircraft immediately responded in the search and rescue efforts.
The aircraft, which can lift off like a helicopter and fly like an airplane, was assigned to the Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 265 and the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is based out of Okinawa, Japan.
Australian Defense Minister Marise Payne said Saturday’s crash took place off the coast of Shoalwater Bay in Queensland state, the Associated Press reported.
The search and rescue operations by the U. S. Navy and Marine Corps were suspended Sunday and operations have now shifted to recovery efforts, the Marines announced. The next of kin of all three soldiers had been notified, according to the announcement.
Cross’ parents are Robert and Valerie Cross.
The Osprey is designed to take off like a helicopter and rotate its propellers to fly like a plane. Its development was nearly canceled after the deaths of 23 Marines during flight testing in 2000, but its speed and range have made it very popular in recent years, according to Reuters.
In 2015, a U. S. military Osprey crashed during a training exercise in Hawaii, killing two Marines. Last December, a U. S. military Osprey crash-landed off Japan’s southern island of Okinawa. Its five crew members were rescued safely. And in January, three U. S. soldiers were wounded in the “hard landing” of an Osprey in Yemen, according to The Associated Press.
Both Cross and his brother, Ryan Cross, were “well-liked and good representatives of the school, ” she said.
Payne, the Australian defense minister, said in a statement that no Australian Defence Force personnel were about the aircraft Saturday. In a statement she had spoken with U. S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis “to offer Australia’s support in any way that can be of assistance.”
The White House said that President Trump was briefed on the matter by his chief of staff, John Kelly.
Cross graduated in 2009 from Telstar High School in Bethel, which is in western Oxford County. He was frequently named to the honor roll and during his senior year was named Mr. Telstar and received numerous scholarships, including a President’s Award for Academic Excellence and a U. S. Marine Corps NROTC scholarship. He graduated from the Virginia Military Institute in 2013 and joined the Marines. He had been in Japan since October.
Cross played baseball and soccer in high school. Gail Wight, the athletic director at the school, remembers the Cross played at least baseball while in school, she said.
Ryan Cross said his brother loved to fly.
“He was proud of being a marine and of the aircraft he flew, ” said Cross.
Cross said his brother was an introvert who had a lot of friends.
“He had a great sense of humor and so many friends. Everybody loved him, ” he said.
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