Marines give highest noncombat medal to family of Osprey crew chief who died trying to save pilots

Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Marine Corps in a ceremony at the commandant’s headquarters has presented their highest noncombat medal to the parents of Cpl. Spencer Collart, who died last year after his V-22 Osprey crashed in Australia. Collart survived the crash but then went back into the burning aircraft to try to save the two pilots, who were trapped. The crash was one of four fatal accidents since 2022 that have drawn increased scrutiny of the Osprey, which flies like both a helicopter and an airplane. During Monday’s ceremony, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Eric Smith told Collart’s parents that they “ had raised a Marine who in the final moments of his life thought not of himself but of this fellow Marines.”