Officials name fourth Marine who died in helicopter crash

By: YVETTE URREA - Staff Writer | Saturday, January 24, 2004 10:40 PM PST ∞

CAMP PENDLETON ---- Officials identified a woman Saturday as the fourth Marine killed in Thursday's helicopter crash at Camp Pendleton.

Helicopter crew chief instructor Staff Sgt. Lori Anne Privette, 27, a native of Zebulon, N.C., died when a UH-1N Huey helicopter crashed during a training flight in the Talega Canyon area on the northwest end of the base, Marine officials said.

Three of the Marines, including Privette, were killed on impact, and the fourth Marine died about two hours later at Mission Medical Center in Mission Viejo.

"She loved being a Marine and what it stood for," her father, Bobby Privette, said Saturday from his home in Zebulon.

His daughter went straight into the military after graduating from high school, he said. She was following in the footsteps of her mother, Dawn, who served in the Army. Privette said his daughter had no clear direction at first and found the Marines "just fit."

She initially joined the Navy but transferred to the Marines Corps in August 1994. She was a Huey crew chief and a crew chief instructor, a rare position for a woman to hold. Camp Pendleton spokesman Maj. T.V. Johnson said that type of job hasn't always been open to females.

Privette's father expressed no regrets about his daughter's career.

"That's what she was doing that night. She was training a young man to be a crew chief," Bobby Privette said. "How it happened, I don't even care. It's an accident; it's all I need to know. She had flown with that pilot very well. She had confidence in him. It wasn't like he was a novice, and an accident is an accident. It can never bring her back."

Privette said his only concern was it would never happen again, if the cause does turn out to be something that can be changed or repaired.

He said he spoke on the telephone with his daughter last weekend and she told him about her new assignment, which involved going around the world on a big ship. Privette said she was excited and happy about the opportunity.

The other victims were helicopter pilot Capt. Adam E. Miller, 29, of Midlothian, Ill.; helicopter pilot 1st. Lt. Michael S. Lawlor, 26, of Timonium, Md.; and helicopter crew chief Cpl. Joshua D. Harris, 21, of Holiday, Fla.

All were assigned to the Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 169, attached to the Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 166, and had returned in fall from duty in Iraq. They were training for an upcoming deployment to the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean as part of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit.

The cause of the crash remained under investigation Saturday. A series of towers and power lines run the course of the canyon, but rumors that the helicopter had snagged some lines could not be confirmed by Marine officials.

Johnson, the Marine spokesman, said Friday that there was no early indication of mechanical failure or distress calls prior to the crash. He said Saturday that the investigation would probably take more than a month as investigators retraced the helicopter's flight path again and again to try to find answers.

The area where the crash occurred is about a mile east of Interstate 5 near agricultural fields and the San Mateo state campgrounds. The site is far from the civilian side of the canyon, which separates the base and inland communities of San Clemente.

Lawlor, who served eight months in Iraq, had celebrated his first wedding anniversary this month with his wife, Blythe. He joined the Marine Corps in June 1999.

"I don't think anyone ever slept comfortably because we knew what he did was dangerous, even stateside, but certainly we all breathed a sigh of relief when he got back from Iraq," his aunt, Christine Lawlor, said Saturday.

Miller had attained his childhood dream of being a helicopter pilot, his mother, Sandra Miller, said. Miller joined the Marine Corps in January 1997.

She said that even in her grief she is comforted by knowing her son was doing what he wanted to do with his life.

"When he was 16, we had a conversation ... and I knew what this meant to him and you accept that," Miller said. "(The family) has no regrets, none whatsoever. Adam had no regrets."

Harris joined the Marine Corps in September 2001.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Contact staff writer Yvette Urrea at (760) 901-4076 or yurrea@nctimes.com.