Vt. man among those killed in military plane crash, says family

One of the 16 killed in a military plane crash is from Vermont, according to family members.

WCAX-TV reports that Gunnery Sgt. Brendan Johnson graduated from Colchester High School in 1989 and later joined the Marines.

He was aboard the U.S. military plane that crashed into a field in rural Mississippi on Monday, killing at least 16 people aboard and spreading debris for miles, officials said.

His family told WCAX-TV that he leaves behind his wife, along with his brother, mother and father.

Gunnery Sgt. Brendan Johnson said he had the best job in the Marine Corps because he gotg to see the world from the air, his family said.

Seven of the U.S. troops killed in the Mississippi plane crash were special operations forces based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Six were Marines and one was a sailor.

The Marine Corps refueling and cargo plane went down in a soybean field on Monday and killed 16 military members in all. The Marines said Tuesday that the air tanker was based at Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, New York, and headed to California.

One of the plane's stops was in North Carolina, presumably to pick up the seven commandos. The plane was scheduled to drop them and their equipment off for training at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, and fly on to a naval air field at El Centro, California. The seven commandos were from the Camp Lejeune-based 2nd Marine Raider Battalion.

Officials have not released the names of those killed. The crash is under investigation.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

Cox Media Group