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John M. Grassia III, one of three other people killed when a National Guard helicopter crashed at the U. S. -Mexico border in Texas.
By Ali Watkins
Two members of the New York State National Guard have been named as victims of the military helicopter crash that killed three more people Friday in Texas near the U. S. -Mexico border.
John M. Grassia III, a soldier from New York State, and Casey Frankoski, a National Guard helicopter pilot, were killed near La Grulla, Texas, when the helicopter crashed into a field. Chris Luna, a U. S. Border Patrol agent, was also killed in the crash, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
All three had been deployed to the U. S. southern border since October.
The death of Mr. Grassia, 30, was announced through the New York State Soldiers’ Union in a social media post, which said he joined the forces as a state trooper in 2022. Frankoski was named in a Facebook post through the mayor of his hometown. , Rensselaer, New York, where his father is a retired police chief.
Last week’s operation was reported to be a “routine mission” along the U. S. -Mexico border, where Grassia, Frankoski and two others were running with Joint Task Force North, a U. S. Department of Defense initiative that tracks the border along the border. local and federal law enforcement.
“They provided surveillance and detection functions along this sector of the border,” said Maj. Ryan Wierzbicki, a spokesman for the task force.
The helicopter was following others illegally crossing the border into the U. S. when it crashed, according to Judge Eloy Vera, a top local official in Starr County, where the crash occurred.
Army investigators arrived at the scene over the weekend and were expected to search for the remains of the plane’s black box, a UH-72 Lakota, used in such missions through the military as a soft-application aircraft.
A third National Guardsman was seriously injured in the crash, the National Guard said.
Ali Watkins is a reporter for Metro and covers crime and law enforcement in New York City. Previously, he worked in national security in Washington for The Times, BuzzFeed and McClatchy newspapers. Learn more about Ali Watkins
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