U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Kristofer Cloward, a trumpeter with the Quantico Marine Band, plays the Church Call to begin the Memorial Service for Team Rush Act and Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 263, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, at the Semper Fidelis Memorial Chapel, Triangle, Virginia, Aug. 14, 2025. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. David Brandes)
QUANTICO, Va. – A Remembrance Ceremony was held at the Semper Fidelis Memorial Chapel on August 14, 2025, honoring the 14 Marines and one Navy Corpsman killed in Vietnam on November 18, 1970, when their helicopter crashed during an emergency extraction mission. The fallen were part of Team Rush Act and Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 263, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion.
The service featured music from Cpl. Kristofer Cloward of the Quantico Marine Band, a eulogy delivered by retired Lt. Gen. Wallace “Chip” Gregson, and a tolling of the Ship’s Bell by retired Maj. Zach Johnson during the roll call. Retired Maj. Gen. James Lukeman, president and CEO of the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation, joined attendees in singing the Marines’ Hymn, and a Marine firing party concluded the service with a three-volley salute.
The ceremony took place at the Semper Fidelis Memorial Chapel, part of the Marine Corps Heritage Center at the National Museum of the Marine Corps. Dedicated in 2009, the chapel was designed to evoke an improvised field chapel and features glass walls overlooking the wooded Semper Fidelis Memorial Park. The 77-seat chapel provides a place of reflection for visitors and hosts ceremonies honoring Marines past and present.
U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Kristofer Cloward, a trumpeter with the Quantico Marine Band, stands at attention during a Memorial Service for Team Rush Act and Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 263, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, at the Semper Fidelis Memorial Chapel, Triangle, Virginia, Aug. 14, 2025. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. David Brandes)Retired U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Wallace “Chip” Gregson, who was with 1st Reconnaissance Battalion from February 1969 to August 1970, reads a eulogy during a Memorial Service for Team Rush Act and Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 263, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, at the Semper Fidelis Memorial Chapel, Triangle, Virginia, Aug. 14, 2025. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. David Brandes)Retired U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Zach Johnson tolls the Ship’s Bell during the roll call for Team Rush Act and Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 263, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, at the Semper Fidelis Memorial Chapel, Triangle, Virginia, Aug. 14, 2025. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. David Brandes)Retired U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Gen. James Lukeman, the president and Chief Executive Officer of the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation, sings the Marines’ Hymn during a Memorial Service for Team Rush Act and Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 263, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, in Triangle, Virginia, Aug. 14, 2025. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. David Brandes)A U.S. Marine Corps firing party present arms after providing a three Volley Salute during a Memorial Service for Team Rush Act and Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 263, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, at the Semper Fidelis Memorial Chapel, Triangle, Virginia, Aug. 14, 2025. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. David Brandes)
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