SEATTLE - One of the six Marines killed in a U.S. helicopter crash in Afghanistan this past week has been identified as a 27-year-old man from Ferndale.
The Department of Defense says Capt. Daniel B. Bartle was one of six who were aboard the CH-53D helicopter that crashed Thursday in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand.
The Marines were based in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.
U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said Friday she's saddened to hear of the deaths. Her spokeswoman, Ashley Nagaoka Boylan, said the congresswoman was notified Thursday evening that all six Marines were Hawaii-based.
"All who have called Hawaii home are part of our island ohana, and every loss like this touches us deeply," Hanabusa said in a statement, using the Hawaiian word for family.
The cause of the latest crash is still being investigated, but a statement issued by the NATO international military coalition said there was no enemy activity in the area when it happened.
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