Rockford-area man 1 of 5 Marines killed in military aircraft crash in southern California
One of the five Marines killed Wednesday when their Osprey aircraft crashed in the California desert near the Arizona border is a Harlem High School graduate from Machesney Park.
Winnebago County Board Member Keith McDonald said his nephew, Nathan Carlson, 21, was the aircraft's crew chief.
McDonald said he last saw Carlson, a 2019 Harlem High School graduate, at Christmas time. He said Carlson wanted to be a Marine since he was eight years old.
"He'd shoot BB guns and he would wear his Marine hat and Marine T-shirt," McDonald said. "Nine days after (high school) graduation, off he went."
McDonald said that eagerness to serve the country runs in the family.
"I'm a (Air Force) veteran. His dad's a veteran. Both of his grandparents are veterans," he said. "We're a military family."
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Nathan appreciated his family's commitment to service and was drawn to the aviation side of the Marine Corps, his uncle said Thursday.
"It was fun challenging him because I could ask him question about things, and he wouldn't know the answer. He was like, 'Let me get back to you.' And so, it caused him to dig deeper into his training, and he became a better mechanic because of it."
McDonald said Carlson at one point was stationed in Djibouti, Africa, and was later transferred to Saudi Arabia. He said it was during that time Carlson made flights to places that earned him his combat wings.
"We lost a tried and true local hero," McDonald said.
The Marine Corps announced the crash Thursday, stating the MV-22B Osprey went down at 12:25 p.m. Wednesday during training in a remote area in Imperial County near the community of Glamis, about 115 miles east of San Diego.
The aircraft was based at Camp Pendleton with Marine Aircraft Group 39 and was part of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing headquartered at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, said Maj. Mason Englehart, a spokesperson for the wing.
The Osprey is a hybrid airplane and helicopter that has been criticized for its safety record. It can take off and land like a helicopter but transit as a turboprop aircraft.
Versions of the aircraft are flown by the Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force.
Prior to Wednesday's crash, Osprey crashes had caused 46 deaths, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Most recently, four Marines were killed when a Marine Corps Osprey crashed March 18 near a Norwegian town in the Arctic Circle while participating in a NATO exercise. In 2017, three Marines were killed when their MV-22B Osprey crashed off Queensland, Australia. In 2015, one Marine was killed and 21 were injured when their MV-22 Osprey caught fire during a "hard landing" in Hawaii.
The Osprey is a joint project of Bell Helicopter Textron and Boeing.
Its development was marked by deadly crashes, including an April 2000 accident in Arizona that killed 19 Marines.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Rockford-area Marine killed in California military aircraft crash
