The United States service member who was killed alongside three defense contractors when their small plane crashed in the Philippines has been identified as a Marine from California.
Sgt. Jacob M. Durham died Thursday when a plane contracted by the U.S. military was conducting a routine mission “providing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance support at the request of our Philippine allies,” officials at Camp Pendleton in California said in a statement.
The statement did not include Durham’s age and the California city where he was from. Officials did not immediately respond to the Associated Press’ emails requesting that information.
Sam Mala / AP
The U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Public Affairs said in a press release on Thursday that the flight was part of a routine mission “in support of U.S.-Philippine security cooperation activities,” and that there were only four people aboard the plane. The aircraft crashed into a rice field near Ampatuan, a small municipality in the southern Maguindanao del Sur province.
Officials said the cause of the crash was under investigation.
The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines confirmed the crash of a light plane in Maguindanao del Sur province. The bodies of the four people were retrieved from the wreckage in Ampatuan town, said Ameer Jehad Tim Ambolodto, a safety officer of Maguindanao del Sur.
U.S. forces have been deployed in a Philippine military camp in the country’s south for decades to help provide training and advice to Filipino forces battling Muslim militants. The region is home to minority Muslims in the largely Roman Catholic nation.
Windy Beaty, a provincial disaster mitigation officer, told The Associated Press on Thursday that she received reports that residents saw smoke coming from the plane and heard an explosion before the aircraft plummeted to the ground about half a mile from a cluster of farmhouses.
Sam Mala / AP
Officials said Durham was trained as an electronic intelligence/electromagnetic warfare analyst assigned to the 1st Radio Battalion, I Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group. He joined the Marines in January 2021 and was promoted to his current rank on Feb. 1.
Durham’s awards include the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, a Meritorious Mast, and Naval Aircrew Insignia, officials said.
“Sgt. Durham embodied the highest traditions of the Marine Corps — exemplifying composure, intelligence, and selfless leadership,” Lt. Col. Mabel B. Annunziata, commanding officer of the 1st Radio Battalion, said in the statement. “He was deeply respected and loved by his fellow Marines.”
