LAPUSH — About 50 people gathered Sunday morning at the mouth of the Quillayute River for a ceremony honoring the three Coast Guardsmen who died in a helicopter crash last week.
A larger memorial planned for Tuesday in Sitka, Alaska, where the three men were stationed, will include a videotape of the Sunday ceremony, according to Quileute tribal publicist Jackie Jacobs.
Lt. Sean Krueger, Aircraft Maintenance Technician 1st Class Adam C. Hoke and Aircraft Maintenance Technician 2nd Class Brett Banks died when the MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter struck power lines spanning the mouth of the Quillayute River to James Island and crashed into the water.
Co-pilot Lt. Lance Leone survived and was recovering from what the Coast Guard described as non-life threatening injuries.
The cause of the crash is still unclear.
During the land ceremony the Quileute tribe, which shares the shore with Coast Guard Station Quillayute River, had prayers offered by Shaker Church member Harold “Fudd” Jackson and Bevery Louden, a member of the Pentecostal Church.
Tribal Elder Roger Jackson offered opening remarks, Jacobs said.
At the conclusion of the prayers, remarks were shared by Tribal Chairwoman Anna Rose Counsell-Geyer, Master Chief Petty Officer Michael P. Leavitt and Senior Chief Petty Officer Scott Lowry of the Coast Guard, she said.
“Following the drumming ceremony, members of the tribe including those involved in the rescue efforts shared comments, which concluded the land part of the ceremony,” an e-mail from Jacobs said.
The land ceremony was followed by one on the water.
Previous plans had included a helicopter, but the idea was hampered by thick fog which has settled over LaPush for the past several days.
“The Coast Guard provided a vessel carrying two wreaths on board with Quileute members Leticia Jaime, dressed in traditional regalia, and Chuck Harrison, as well as a number of Coast Guard members,” Jacobs wrote.
The wreaths were lowered into the water near James Island, just off the coast of First Beach, one on behalf the Quileute tribe and the other for the Coast Guard.
“The Quileute tribe’s wreath, made by Leppell’s flower shop in Forks, was red, white and blue and contained three cedar roses symbolizing each of the departed men,” Jacobs wrote.
“This was the wreath lowered by Leticia Jaime.”
Harrison, as well as the Coast Guard members, lowered the second wreath.
The names of those Coast Guardsmen were not available Sunday and spokesman Petty Officer Nathan Bradshaw did not return a phone call for comment.
The ceremony wrapped up with the singing of a traditional Quileute song with the Coast Guard and tribal members hand-in-hand, Jacobs said.
Quileute tribal member Pam Morganroth shared a final prayer.
Counsell-Geyer previously expressed her sadness over the deaths, saying that although the men who died were not local to the area, the Coast Guard is an integral part of the Quileute community.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
