Pennsylvania Daybook

High surf complicating Hawaii search as Marines ID officers

HONOLULU (AP) — The U.S. Marine Corps on Saturday night released the names of the 12 Marines missing after two helicopters crashed off Hawaii. Here are their stories: SGT. DILLON J. SEMOLINA, 24, OF CHASKA, MINNESOTA The uncle of Minnesota native Sgt. Dillon J. Semolina said the 24-year-old wanted to be a Registered Nurse when he left the Marines. "He was waiting to hear from a school he had applied to and was hoping to hear next week," said his uncle, Ryan Bachand. Semolina is an impressive young man, respectful and positive, Bachand said. He had been a good football player at Delano, Minnesota, high school. The family still holds out hope that he and others missing will be found alive, Bachand said. But as hopes have dimmed, Bachand said he would cherish memories of spending time with Semolina when Bachand was a fishing guide in northern Minnesota. "I was able to teach him how to fish," he said. A GoFundMe page to raise money to send Semolina's parents to Hawaii to be near where Semolina went missing had raised nearly $10,000 from 226 people by late Saturday. CPL. CHRISTOPHER ORLANDO, 23, OF HINGHAM, MASSACHUSETTS Orlando's family said in a statement released Saturday by the Massachusetts State Police that they are thankful to everyone for their love, concern and prayers. Orlando is a flight crew chief and a 2010 high school graduate from Hingham, outside Boston. His family said they are monitoring the search effort and are thankful for the hard work of search and rescue crews. Before Orlando joined the Marines, he was a counselor at a surf camp in Hull, Massachusetts, and is a "camp legend," the South Shore Surf Camp said in a Facebook post. "He is mentally and physically strong with the ocean experience and skills needed to survive anything Mother Nature can throw at him." CAPT. KEVIN ROCHE, 30, OF ST. LOUIS The family of Capt. Kevin Roche, 30, praised rescuers for trying to find him and the other Marines aboard the helicopters. "We believe the Marines and Coast Guard are doing everything they can to bring Kevin and his fellow Marines home safely, and we are grateful to everyone involved in the rescue," said a family statement distributed by brother-in-law Anthony Kuenzel in St. Louis. LANCE CPL. TY L. HART, 21, OF AUMSVILLE, OREGON A man from Oregon is among the 12 Marines missing after two helicopters crashed off Hawaii. The Marines identified him as 21-year-old Ty Hart from Stayton, Oregon. The Oregonian newspaper reported that he lives on base in Hawaii with his wife. Family friend Christina Brown described Hart as upbeat and energetic and said he enjoys nature, boating and wakeboarding. Hart's former high school football coach and teacher, Alan Kirby, told the newspaper that Hart was a positive kid who always had a smile on his face and called him a quick learner on the gridiron. ___ The official list of the missing Marines is: — Maj. Shawn M. Campbell, 41, College Station, Texas. — Capt. Brian T. Kennedy, 31, Philadelphia — Capt. Kevin T. Roche, 30, St. Louis — Capt. Steven R. Torbert, 29, Florence, Alabama. — Sgt. Dillon J. Semolina, 24,Chaska, Minnesota. — Sgt. Adam C. Schoeller, 25, Gardners, Pennsylvania. — Sgt. Jeffrey A. Sempler, 22, Woodruff, South Carolina. — Sgt. William J. Turner, 25, Florala, Alabama. — Cpl. Matthew R. Drown, 23, Spring, Texas. — Cpl. Thomas J. Jardas, 22, Fort Myers, Florida. — Cpl. Christopher J. Orlando, 23, Hingham, Massachusetts. — Lance Cpl. Ty L. Hart, 21, Aumsville, Oregon.

About the 12 Marines missing in the Hawaii helicopter crash