Huntingdon Valley, Pa. Marine among 4 dead after helicopter crash in California

HUNTINGDON VALLEY, Pa. -- A Marine from suburban Philadelphia has been identified as one of the four killed in a crash earlier this week during a training mission in California.

The military identified him as Capt. Samuel Schultz, 28, from Huntingdon Valley, Pa.

He joined the Marine Corps in May 2012, a military statement said. Schultz's previous duty stations include Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida; Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, Texas; and MCAS New River, North Carolina.

Schultz previously deployed with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

The other victims were identified as 27-year-old 1st Lt. Samuel Phillips of Pinehurst, North Carolina; 33-year-old Gunnery Sgt. Richard Holley of Dayton, Ohio; and 24-year-old Lance Cpl. Taylor Conrad of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The Marines were with the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing's 465th squadron out of the Miramar air station in San Diego.

Their CH-53E Super Stallion crashed Tuesday in the desert outside El Centro, near the U.S.-Mexico border.

Col. Craig Leflore, a commanding officer, says "these 'warhorse' Marines brought joy and laughter to so many around them," and they will never be forgotten.

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