A Marine lost at sea after a helicopter accident –the first death in the U.S. military campaign against the Islamic State group (ISIS) – was identified Friday as Cpl. Jordan Spears of Memphis, Indiana.
The 21-year-old Marine and another crew member jumped off the craft and into the Persian Gulf after their Osprey aircraft apparently lost power just after takeoff from the USS Makin Island,
Military Times reported.
The other crew member was rescued and the pilots safely landed back on the ship.
Spears's body was not recovered. An investigation was underway, Military Times reported.
The Navy has not specified the group’s mission in the Mideast, saying only that the USS Makin Island is “supporting operations in Iraq and Syria, and throughout the region,"
The Hill reported.
"Some of those operations included operations in Iraq and Syria, at least tangentially," Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby said Friday, The Hill reported.
"So there's no question that this Marine's death is related to the operations that are going on in some form or fashion."
The U.S. and allies have launched hundreds of airstrikes since August in Iraq and Syria to destroy ISIS.
There are more than 4,000 Marines and sailors with the unit to which Spears was assigned, Military Times reported.
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