Coast Guard Academy Honors Crash Victims

By LEANNE GENDREAU

Updated 8:30 AM EST, Wed, Nov 4, 2009

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An AH-1W 'Super Cobra' helicopter like this one has collided with a coast guard plane.

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Today, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy honors the nine people who went missing when a U.S. Coast Guard plane and a Marine Corps helicopter collided Thursday over the Pacific Coast.

Among those who were aboard the plane during the tragic incident are two graduates of the academy. Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Che J. Barnes, 35, of Capay, Florida, was the aircraft commander, and Lt. Adam W. Bryant, 28, of Crewe, Virginia, was the co-pilot, the Day of New London reports.

The collision happened as the Coast Guard was searching for a missing boater and the Marine helicopter was flying in formation with another Cobra helicopter and two transports on a nighttime training exercise, MSNBC reports. On Sunday, officials declared that the search was no longer a rescue mission because, they said, chance of survival was slim.

Barnes route to the Coast Guard Academy in New London began when he was young. As a teen, he saved up his money for flying lessons, his twin brother, Noah, told the Sacramento Bee. He made his first solo flight at 16. It was a birthday gift

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He originally wanted to be a fighter pilot, but his vision was not good enough so he enrolled in the academy, where he studied engineering.

"This Coast Guard job was the best thing for him," his brother, Thaddeus Barsotti, 29, told the Bee.

Both men graduated from the academy in New London with degrees in mechanical engineering, the Day reports.

After graduating from the Coast Guard Academy, Bryant completed his mandatory enlistment and decided to make the Coast Guard his career, Bryant’s uncle, nephew of Grace Baptist Church Pastor Jack Stewart, told the Gazette-Virginian.

“He knew what he wanted to do when he was in high school,” Bryant’s uncle, nephew of Grace Baptist Church Pastor Jack Stewart, told the Gazette-Virginian.

The academy held the ceremony at 8 a.m., reading the names of the seven people aboard the Coast Guard C-130 and two on the helicopter. The chaplain planned to say a prayer as the flags were raised.

In response to the tragedy, The Coast Guard Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Stonington, reactivated its Disaster Relief Fund, according to a news release on its Web site.

The foundation is looking for donations to help the family of crew lost in the crash. The fund was established in September 2008 after four Coast Guard members were lost during a helicopter crash in Hawaii.

To donate to the Family Disaster Relief Fund, the Fallen Heroes Scholarship Fund or the CG-1705 Memorial Service Fund, visit the Coast Guard Foundation’s website, call the Foundation at 860-535-0786 or fax a note to 860-535-0944 with donation information and a reference to the CG-1705 Disaster Relief.