Army identifies five soldiers killed in Egypt helicopter crash

The U.S. Army on Saturday identified the five soldiers who were killed in a helicopter crash in Egypt this week while they were working on a peacekeeping mission.

The Army identified the soldiers as Capt. Seth Vernon Vandekamp, 31, from Katy, Texas; Chief Warrant Officer 3 Dallas Gearld Garzaf, 34, from Fayetteville, N.C.; Chief Warrant Officer 2 Marwan Sameh Ghabour, 27, from Marlborough, Mass.; Staff Sgt. Kyle Robert McKee, 35, from Painesville, Ohio; and Sgt. Jeremy Cain Sherman, 23, from Watseka, Ill.

One American is hospitalized in very serious condition.

The five soldiers were killed Thursday when an Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed on Tiran Island off the coast of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. An investigation is underway. The crash appears to be the result of an accident rather than an attack. 

The U.S. retains a military presence in the Sinai Peninsula to combat militants aligned with the Islamic State who have attacked Egyptian forces. Hundreds have also been stationed in the peninsula as part of a peacekeeping mission dating back to the 1979 peace deal between Israel and Egypt, when the Sinai was returned to Egypt.