Photo By Cpl. Dominique Osthoff | Sgt. Alek Maten speaks about Cpl. Skyler D. James and who James was at the New River...... read more read more
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The pews were filled in honor of Cpl. Skyler D. James for his memorial at the McCutcheon Memorial Chapel, New River Air Station, Aug. 18, 2017.
James, an aviation mechanic, had passed away after being critically injured from a lightning strike on July 11, 2017 while working on the flight line.
During the memorial, individuals talked about who James was and how he affected the people around him.
“Skylar James was the comedian of the shop,” said Sgt. Alek Maten, a flight line mechanic for the Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261.
“He memorized movie quotes like it was cool,” said Maten. “This guy had a special gift of dropping a perfect one liner from a movie in a perfect situation. Sometimes we would have full conversations just using movie quotes.”
Even though James liked to have a laugh, he was dependable and a hard worker.
“When heavy maintenance was going on, he was always out there,” said Maj. Scott Harris, the executive officer of VMM-261.
James was highly revered by his peers.
“James was a quick learner and had what most people in this profession lack; common sense,” said Maten. “He was overqualified for being a corporal. He had the qualification that normally a staff sergeant gets.”
No matter the situation, James found a way to put a smile on his Marines’ faces.
“He always had a smile on his face. It could be the worst conditions and he would have a smile on his face, and elbows deep in grease,” said Harris. “If there were two teams out working on an aircraft, the personnel working on one that Cpl. James was out on would always come back with smiles on their faces and would be laughing about something James said.”
At the end of the memorial, names of Marines from VMM-261 were called. When Cpl. Skyler D. James was called, no answer was received. At that time everyone stood at attention for the fallen Marine.
“Skyler James, you will forever be my protégée, my friend, and my brother,” said Maten. “You are gone but not forgotten.”
| Date Taken: | 08.18.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 08.24.2017 13:25 |
| Story ID: | 245831 |
| Location: | NC, US |
| Web Views: | 128 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Cpl. James’s memory honored, by Cpl Dominique Osthoff, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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