SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8) - The remains of a 25-year-old U.S. Marine killed in a helicopter crash last month in Mississippi arrived Tuesday in San Diego ahead of his scheduled burial on Friday at Miramar National Cemetery.
Sergeant Chad Jenson was among the 15 Marines and a Navy sailor who died when the military transport plane slammed into soybean fields in the Mississippi Delta on July 10.
He was a Mira Costa High School graduate who helped lead his Manhattan Beach football team to a championship in 2009. He grew up in Redondo Beach, where his family still resides.
The crash was the deadliest Marine Corps air disaster since 2005, when a transport helicopter went down during a sandstorm in Iraq, killing 30 Marines and a sailor.
The Marine Corps said the cause is under investigation but offered no information on whether the plane issued a distress call. The Marines said the plane was carrying personal weapons and small-arms ammunition - equipment that may have contributed to the explosion and the popping that could be heard as the wreckage burned.
Six of the Marines and the sailor were from an elite Marine Raider battalion at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and were headed for pre-deployment training in Yuma, Arizona, the Marine Corps said.
The KC-130 is used to refuel aircraft in flight and transport cargo and troops.
Brig. Gen. Bradley S. James, commanding general, 4th Marine Aircraft Wing, Marine Forces Reserve, said, "Indications are that something went wrong at cruise altitude."
James said nine Marines were from Newburgh, N.Y. and six Marines and a Navy Corpsman were from Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
Sergeant Jenson is survived by his wife of only eight months, Jessica Jenson of Encinitas and her son, Jackson.
His father, Bob, began a scholarship in his son's honor called, "Chad Elliott Jenson Memorial Scholarship," with hopes of raising at least $100,000, to give a Mira Costa High athlete who exemplifies qualities of Chad Jenson like commitment, leadership, and community service.
Sergeant Chad Jenson will be laid to rest on Friday.
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