Sitka residents struggle with loss of Coast Guard crewmen

July 13, 2010

Keith Perkins with the Sitka Chamber of Commerce says Sitka considers Coast Guard members to be family -- and he thought it was important to embrace family after Wednesday's Coast Guard helicopter crash off La Push, Wash. (Carolyn Hall/KTUU-DT)

by Jackie Bartz
Monday, July 12, 2010

SITKA, Alaska -- A close-knit community is struggling in the wake of a helicopter crash that killed three Sitka-based Coast Guard crewmen and injured another. Sitka residents say everyone in town is feeling the loss, and that the men were fathers, friends and good neighbors. Many say they feel stunned and devastated.

Locals say it's so routine for the Coast Guard to fly out in bad weather to save lives that they never imagined an accident in good weather. It's a tragedy that hits close to home for most, as the lost men volunteered both in schools and with local search and rescue crews.

Lt. Sean Krueger, Aviation Maintenance Technician 1st Class Adam Hoke, and Aviation Maintenance Technician 2nd Class Brett Banks died after witnesses say their MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter clipped a power line and crashed off La Push, Wash. The sole survivor, Lt. Lance Leone, was seriously injured.

Sitka residents are proudly displaying their support of the men's families, using hundreds of memorial signs printed by the city. They say the men made a positive impact in their community.

"Well, it's small-town Alaska and the Coast Guard is such a integral part of the community, as well as what they do with their service that these people are family," said Keith Perkins with the Sitka Chamber of Commerce. "And I thought that it was important for us to want to be able to reach out and put our arms around family."

"It's a huge loss to the entire community," said the chamber's executive director, Sheila Finkenbinder. "I don't think that you would find a person here who doesn't feel this loss."

"It's unbelievable," said Don Klunting with Sitka Mountain Rescue. "They come in with wonderful personalities, these are people that will literally give you the shirt off their backs to help somebody, if somebody needs it."

The Coast Guard will hold a memorial service in Sitka Tuesday. City officials expect more than 1,000 residents to attend.

Contact Jackie Bartz at jbartz@ktuu.com

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