PORT ANGELES — After a ceremony in Port Angeles, a wreath will be placed Thursday morning in the water off LaPush where three Coast Guard service members died in a helicopter crash one year earlier.
The wreath will be dropped by a Coast Guard helicopter from Air Station/Sector Field Office Port Angeles likely between 9:30 a.m. and 10 a.m., said Coast Guard Sector District 13 spokesman Eric Chandler.
That will follow an 8 a.m. ceremony at the Port Angeles station on Ediz Hook.
The service, which will not be open to the public, will involve a moment of silence and likely a few speeches in front of the base’s flagpole, said Lt. Cmdr. Scott Sanborn.
“It’s always important to remember the shipmates you served with and sacrifices that they gave,” he said.
“They gave the ultimate sacrifice doing the mission that we all do day-in and day-out.”
A helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Astoria also will fly over LaPush, he said.
Four crew members were flying from Astoria, Ore., to their base in Sitka, Alaska, on July 7 when their helicopter clipped power lines spanning the Quillayute River mouth and slammed into the water. Only one survived.
The lines powered the Coast Guard’s bar lights on James Island.
The power lines were not replaced; instead, the Coast Guard is using generators placed on the island to power the lights.
The results of an investigation into the crash have not been publicly released.
The Peninsula Daily News has filed a public records request for the crash report.
________
Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.