1 Day, 2 Memorials, for 5 Sailors Killed Decades Apart

Memorial services were held Thursday to remember five sailors with Imperial Beach ties and two very different ends.

At 1 p.m. Thursday, 46 years after their death, an interment ceremony was held at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia for four sailors who were killed July 18, 1967 in a helicopter crash during a search and rescue mission in North Vietnam.

Due to difficulty in identifying their remains, Lt. Dennis Peterson, Ensign Donald Frye, AX2 William Jackson and AX2 Donald McGrane were laid to rest together.

All four men were part of Helicopter Squadron 2, which at the time was based at Naval Auxiliary Air Station Imperial Beach. Now known as HSC-12, the squadron is based at NAS North Island.

Jackson's son Glenn spoke to IB Patch about the decades long journey to his father's interment Thursday.

NBC News and Washington Post covered the interment attended by family members, Navy officers and the squadron's former commanding officer.

At 2 p.m. Thursday at Naval Air Station Whiting Field in Florida, a memorial service was held for Chief Petty Officer Robert Roy.

Roy was killed in a car accident Sunday after the car he was in was hit by an allegedly drunk driver.

Ironically, a simulator building at NAS Whiting Field was named after Lt. Peterson.

While serving aboard the USS Carl Vinson, Roy was an Imperial Beach Little League (IBLL) coach. While on shore duty in Florida, Roy was looking forward to coaching his two sons' baseball teams, IBLL officials said.

He will be laid to rest in his native Maine, according to Naval Air Station Whiting Field.

Both NOLF IB and Whiting Field are historically known as some of the busiest places for aircraft in the United States Navy.