The Florida Senate held a moment of silence Wednesday for the eleven soldiers and Marines who were killed during a training exercise in the Florida Panhandle last week.
“Chief Warrant Officer George Wayne Griffin, Chief Warrant Officer George David Strother, Staff Sgt. Lance Bergeron, Staff Sgt. Thomas Florich...,” said Sen. Don Gaetz, as a he read from a list.
Reading the names of those lost, the Niceville Republican called for the moment of silence on the Senate floor “that we rise in tribute and in memory to these 11 members of our armed forces who had no intention of dying that day, but had every intention of doing their duty that day to be trained and to be ready.”
All eleven were taking part in what was supposed to be a routine training mission at Eglin Air Force Base. They were killed last Tuesday when their Black Hawk helicopter crashed into about 25 feet of water in the Santa Rosa Sound, during a thick fog.
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