 The Big Bear High School graduate entered the Marine Corps in 2003 after completing his physics degree at the University of La Verne. After stints in Virginia and at a Florida flight school, Landaker was deployed to Iraq last August from Camp Pendleton. Landaker was a first lieutenant with Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 364, nick- named the "Purple Foxes." As a medevac pilot, his role was to airlift wounded Marines out of dangerous combat zones in Anbar province. That's what he was doing Wednesday, his family said, when his helicopter went down in flames. Flying a Marine helicopter through insurgent-heavy pockets of Iraq didn't faze Jared Landaker, even with reports of enemy ground-to-air attacks on the rise. "He felt real confident that the way they were flying, they could get in and get the downed Marines back out safely," said his mother, Laura Landaker. "His spirits were always really good, every time I talked to him." In frequent e-mails to his mother, Landaker didn't express fear, she said Thursday. Rather, he spoke of the good he felt his unit was doing, rescuing the wounded, and his upcoming leave from Iraq. Laura Landaker said she spent Wednesday on edge after hearing of the crash on the morning news. Her husband, Joe, a Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam War, sought confirmation to no avail. About 4 p.m., three uniformed Marines came to the door. The family remembered his devotion and optimism Thursday, a day after learning that the 25-year-old Marine Corps pilot was one of seven killed in a helicopter crash northwest of Baghdad. "He felt he was providing a service," Laura Landaker said. In the year before Landaker was scheduled to return to Iraq, he had planned a trip to Brazil and had been chosen for a specialized weapons and tactical training class in Yuma, Ariz. "He wanted to be there, and he knew he was doing the right thing," said Brooke Wagner, a San Bernardino County sheriff's sergeant and longtime family friend. "He knew he wanted to be a part of fighting there so it wouldn't come here." While her son was overseas, Laura Landaker began organizing groups of friends and supporters to visit wounded Marines and sailors stationed at San Diego area military hospitals. She said it was her way of supporting her son's efforts, and she plans to continue by organizing a 5K run to raise funds for Marine care package charities. "He was such a true, committed person, whatever he put his mind to," Laura Landaker said. "Such a patriotic guy. He wore the uniform so proudly." |