Sean Reyes: “it is with sadness that we remember the 21 National Guard members recently killed in the Saturday, March 3, plane crash.…”

“it is with sadness that we remember the 21 National Guard members recently killed in the Saturday, March 3, plane crash. Eighteen members of the Virginia Air National Guard's 203d Red Horse Unit and 3 members of the Florida Air National Guard perished when the C-23 Sherpa plane in which they were traveling crashed in Unadilla, Georgia while en route from Hurlbert Field, Fort Walton Beach, Florida to Oceana Naval Air Station, Virginia Beach, Virginia. Bad weather may have contributed to the crash, which left the plane in a plowed field, slippery with thick mud. The 203d is a rapid response construction unit capable of constructing runways and other critical facilities and has spent time in Kuwait and other remote locations in the Middle East in recent years. Having just completed 2 weeks of annual training, working in ditches and laying water, sewer and electrical lines in Florida, these Guard members were returning home to their families and civilian jobs. We cannot forget the tremendous contribution that the National Guard makes to this country.”