Marine Lance Cpl. Nicholas J. Sovie

Remember Our Heroes

Marine Lance Cpl. Nicholas J. Sovie, 20, of Ogdensburg, N.Y.

Lance Cpl. Sovie was assigned to Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron 464, Marine Air Group 29, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, II Marine Expeditionary Force, New River, N.C.; deployed to Djibouti as part of the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa; killed Feb. 17 when two CH-53 helicopters crashed into the Gulf of Aden in the vicinity of Ras Siyyan, northern Djibouti, while flying a training mission in the Godoria Range area. Also killed were Marine 1st Lt. Brandon R. Dronet, Sgt. James F. Fordyce, Lance Cpl. Samuel W. Large Jr., Sgt. Donnie Leo F. Levens, Cpl. Matthieu Marcellus, Sgt. Jonathan E. McColley and Capt. Bryan D. Willard; and Air Force Senior Airman Alecia S. Good and Staff Sgt. Luis M. Melendez Sanchez.

AP New York
OGDENSBURG, N.Y. -- The family of a 20-year-old Marine who was among those killed in the collision of two U.S. military transport helicopters described him as a "happy-go-lucky kid" with a lot of friends.

Lance Cpl. Nicholas Sovie of Ogdensburg and nine other U.S. service members were killed Friday when a pair of Marine Corps helicopters crashed off the eastern coast of Africa. The two CH-53E choppers carrying a dozen crew and troops from a U.S. counterterrorism force went down during a training flight in the Gulf of Aden, near the northern coastal town of Ras Siyyan in Djibouti.

Stephen Sovie said he last spoke with his 20-year-old son two days before he was killed, when he made a surprise call home.

"It was his day off," Mr. Sovie said. "He's about eight hours ahead of us, so he already finished his 3-mile run, went about his day and was having a cup of coffee."

Nicholas Sovie was a graduate of Ogdensburg Free Academy and joined the Marine Corps in August 2003. He scored high enough on aptitude tests to go to flight school and work as crew chief aboard CH-53E helicopters.

"He was told he could do pretty much anything he wanted to," Sovie said.

Stephen Sovie was home Friday night when he saw on TV that two Marine helicopters crashed. He said his wife, Mary M., and their two other sons feared the worst.

It was the first mission overseas for Cpl. Sovie, who served as a member of HMH 464 squadron based at Marine Corps Air Station New River in Jacksonville, N.C.

Marine Lance Cpl. Nicholas J. Sovie was killed in action on 02/17/06.