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THE WHITE HOUSE

                     Office of the Press Secretary
                         (Aboard Air Force One)
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                      April 9, 2000

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

On Saturday, April 8, the United States lost brave members of the Marine Corps, who died in the line of duty, in the service of their country.

They sacrificed their lives in a training accident involving two V-22 aircraft in Arizona. This terrible loss of life is a reminder of how so many men and women in the nation's military put their lives at risk, each and every day, so that we might be a free people, and the cause of peace can be advanced throughout the world.

Hillary and I offer our prayers for those we have so suddenly lost, and for their family and friends whose burden of grief is so great. We pray that God may bless them all. Though their names and faces were not known to most of America before this tragic moment, I know that the American people will recognize in their names and faces in the days ahead the genuine quality of heroism.

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