Service members involved in UH-60 crash identified

By Eglin Air Force Base Public Affairs, / Published March 16, 2015

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFNS) -- It is with a heavy heart that the U.S. Marine Corps Forces, U.S. Special Operations Command and the Louisiana National Guard formally announced the names of the seven Marines and four Soldiers who died in an Army UH-60 Black Hawk crash near Eglin Air Force Base, at approximately 8:30 p.m., March 10.

They include:

Marine Capt. Stanford H. Shaw, III, 31, from Basking Ridge, New Jersey

Master Sgt. Thomas A. Saunders, 33, from Williamsburg, Virginia

Staff Sgt. Marcus S. Bawol, 26, from Warren, Michigan

Staff Sgt. Trevor P. Blaylock, 29, from Lake Orion, Michigan

Staff Sgt. Liam A. Flynn, 33, from Queens, New York

Staff Sgt. Kerry M. Kemp, 27, from Port Washington, Wisconsin

Staff Sgt. Andrew C. Seif, 26, from Holland, Michigan

Army Chief Warrant Officer 4 George Wayne Griffin Jr, 37

Chief Warrant Officer 4 George David Strother, 44

Staff Sgt. Lance Bergeron, 40

Staff Sgt. Thomas Florich, 26

Recovery efforts for the UH-60 began March 13. Once the aircraft has been removed from the water, the recovery operations are expected to be turned over to a safety investigation board. The effort will be led by the U.S. Army Combat Readiness Center from Fort Rucker, Alabama.