U.S. Carrier Jet Crashes Near Japan

[BruteForce]

Lost a friend Tuesday (they found him and his 3 crew mates today). A cold hard reminder that our men & women in uniform don't necessarily need to be dodging bullets to be in harm's way. Patrick Myrick will be in our hearts forever just as he was before he left us; young, vital, and full of promise. Roger that PM, you are cleared for takeoff. Godspeed my friend.

[Bluerauder]

Lost a friend yesterday (they found him and his 3 crew mates today). A cold hard reminder that our men & women in uniform don't necessarily need to be dodging bullets to be in harm's way. Patrick Myrick will be in our hearts forever just as he was before he left us; young, vital, and full of promise. Roger that PM, you are cleared for takeoff. Godspeed my friend.
Sorry to hear about the loss of your friend. Carrier pilots are a very special breed indeed. Remember that he was doing what he loved to do !!!! Was he an EA-6 pilot (3 crewmembers?).?

[BruteForce]

Sorry to hear about the loss of your friend. Carrier pilots are a very special breed indeed. Remember that he was doing what he loved to do !!!! Was he an EA-6 pilot (3 crewmembers?).?

S-3B Viking

News wire article (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesti cNews&storyID=5928052)

[Bluerauder]

S-3B Viking

News wire article (http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesti cNews&storyID=5928052)
Again, my condolences on the loss. Thanks for the info. I had not seen the newswire story. The father of one of my son's friends was on the USS Stennis in the CAG before it deployed to CA from Norfolk, VA.

[Tallboy]

there is no more honorable way to die.

[TAF]

there is no more honorable way to die.Exactly my sentiments. God Speed to him and his men. And condolences for their families and everyone they touched.

[Bigdogjim]

God Bless.

We share your loss.

I will pray for his famly and friends.

[Patrick]

My prayers to you and his famaliy!

[Ross]

Four more good men go down honorably. Let's hope we always have a country where four more good men will rise up to take their places.

[Badger]

Sorry to hear about the loss. My command usually is the one who will haul it up out of the water. Very sorry.

[SHERIFF]

Small world! There was an obituary in the Charlottesville, Virginia newspaper of another pilot killed in this same crash.

Scott Allen Zellem

Lieutenant Commander Scott Allen Zellem, United States Navy, 35, of San Diego, Calif., died Tuesday, August 10, 2004, when his S-3B Viking surveillance aircraft crashed on the island of Kita Iwo Jima, Japan, during operations from the aircraft carrier U.S.S. John C. Stennis.

He was born March 10, 1969, in Indiana, Pa.

Lieutenant Commander Zellem graduated from Indiana High School in 1987, and the United States Naval Academy in 1991. He was a standout football player both in high school and at the Naval Academy. He received his naval aviation wings at Pensacola, Fla., in 1992. He then flew the A-6 Intruder and the S-3B Viking as a Naval Flight Officer from a variety of aircraft carriers, including the U.S.S. Independence, U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, and U.S.S. John C. Stennis. He achieved over 540 carrier landings during his career and flew combat missions over Iraq during several deployments, including Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, for which he was awarded the Air Medal. He was the recipient of numerous other personal awards and medals, as well as campaign and other decorations.

Surviving are is wife, Jennifer Zellem and their son, Tanner Zy Zellem, both of San Diego; her parents, Gary and Lynn Hunt of Novi, Mich.; his father, Theodore F. Zellem of Charlottesville, Va.; his mother, Sally London Zellem of Indiana; a brother, Commander Edward Zellem, USN, and his wife, Cynthia, and their children, John, Michael and Susannah, of Dalgren, Va.; a sister, Millie Cathercart and her husband, Robert, and their children, Sallie, Scott and Ann of Charlottesville, Va.

Lieutenant Commander Zellem will be interred with full military honors at the Arlington National Cemetery, at a date to be determined. A memorial service will be held in Indiana, Pa., at a later date.

Memorial contributions may be made to a college fund established by friends of the family for son, Tanner, age 1, to the following: Collegebound Fund, account 030-0354, FBO Tanner Zellem. Mail to Bernstein Investment Research and Management, 225 South Sixth St., Suite 5100, Minneapolis, MN 55401. Donations may also be made to the American Red Cross or the Navy Mutual Aid Association at www.nmaa.org.

Bowser-Minich Funeral Home, Indiana, Pa., is in charge of ar-rangements.

[SHERIFF]

I had no idea what a S-3B Viking was. Had to go look.....

http://www.mediacen.navy.mil/pubs/allhands/jan01/s3bviking.jpg