Five U.S. troops died in a helicopter crash during a training exercise in the Mediterranean Sea during Veterans’ Day weekend.
According to the U.S. European Command (EUCOM), an MH-60 Black Hawk went down in the eastern Mediterranean Sea while conducting a refueling mission off the coast of Cyprus. EUCOM is responsible for U.S. military operations across Europe, some parts of Asia and the Middle East, the Arctic and the Atlantic Ocean.
“On the evening of November 10, a U.S. military aircraft conducting training operations in the eastern Mediterranean suffered a mishap and went down,” EUCOM said in a statement.
“We can definitively say that the aircraft sortie was purely related to training and there are no indications of hostile activity,” the statement continued, adding that “the cause of the training incident is currently under investigation.”
The Department of Defense has since released the identities of the five special operators who were killed in the accident: Chief Warrant Officer 3 Stephen R. Dwyer, 38, of Clarksville, Tennessee; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Shane M. Barnes, 34, of Sacramento, California; Staff Sgt. Tanner W. Grone, 25, of Gorham, New Hampshire; Sgt. Andrew P. Southard, 27, of Apache Junction, Arizona; and Sgt. Cade M. Wolfe, 24, of Mankato, Minnesota.
The military said that there was no hostile actor involved in the crash. The U.S. has extensive assets deployed in the Mediterranean in an effort to deter Iran and its terrorist proxy groups from joining Israel’s war against Hamas.
President Joe Biden released a statement on the social media platform X, mourning the deaths of the five soldiers.
“Jill and I mourn the loss of 5 American service members who died when their aircraft crashed in the Mediterranean Sea during a training mission. We are praying for the families and friends who lost a precious loved one — a piece of their soul. Our entire nation shares their grief,” Biden wrote.
“Our service members put their lives on the line for our country every day,” he added. “They willingly take risks to keep the American people safe and secure. And their daily bravery and selflessness is an enduring testament to what is best in our nation.”
