IV 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 498 

Honoring the lives of Lance Corporal Ruben Velasco of West Covina, California, Corporal Nathaniel Ordway of Wichita, Kansas, and Captain 

Benjamin Cross of Bethel, Maine, who perished on August 5, 2017, 

during military operations off the coast of Australia. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

AUGUST 29, 2017 

Mrs. NAPOLITANO (for herself, Mr. ESTES of Kansas, and Mr. POLIQUIN) 

submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 

on Armed Services 

RESOLUTION 

Honoring the lives of Lance Corporal Ruben Velasco of West 

Covina, California, Corporal Nathaniel Ordway of Wichita, Kansas, and Captain Benjamin Cross of Bethel, 

Maine, who perished on August 5, 2017, during military 

operations off the coast of Australia. 

Whereas Lance Corporal Ruben Velasco was born on July 31, 

1998, in West Covina, California; 

Whereas Lance Corporal Velasco attended schools in the San 

Gabriel Valley of California and graduated from West 

Covina High School in 2016; 

Whereas Lance Corporal Velasco played on the football and 

track and field teams in high school and was known as 

a great teammate, leader, and competitor; 


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Whereas Lance Corporal Velasco was beloved by his friends 

and family for his sense of humor, his never ending 

smile, his kindness, and his ability to make friends with 

everyone; 

Whereas Lance Corporal Velasco was selected to assess into 

the Marine Corps and could not have been more excited, 

discussing extensively with his family and friends his 

pride in becoming a Marine to serve the United States; 

Whereas Lance Corporal Velasco completed basic training to 

earn his Eagle, Globe, and Anchor, matriculated into infantryman training, and upon graduation was assigned to 

Battery G, Battalion Landing Team, 3rd Battalion, 5th 

Marines (BLT 3/5); 

Whereas Lance Corporal Velasco was deployed in support of 

the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and was decorated 

with the National Defense Service Medal and the Global 

War on Terrorism Service Medal; 

Whereas Corporal Nathaniel Ordway was born on February 

8, 1996, in Wichita, Kansas; 

Whereas Corporal Ordway grew up in Wichita and attended 

Wichita Heights High School, where he was a member of 

the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps; 

Whereas Corporal Ordway was an accomplished practitioner 

of Taekwondo, achieving the level of black belt; 

Whereas Corporal Ordway is remembered as a person with a 

smile on his face, the guy who made everyone laugh, the 

guy who loved everyone, and a Marine who made his family very proud; 

Whereas Corporal Ordway was selected to assess into the Marine Corps after high school, having always wanted to 


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serve in a way that protected his family, his community 

and his country; 

Whereas Corporal Ordway completed basic training to earn 

his Eagle, Globe, and Anchor, advanced to a Crew Chief, 

and was assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 

265 (VMM–265); 

Whereas Corporal Ordway was decorated with the National 

Defense Service Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, 

and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; 

Whereas Captain Benjamin Cross spent most of his childhood 

in Bethel, Maine, where he graduated from Telstar Regional High School; 

Whereas Captain Cross excelled in high school as a scholar 

and athlete, including being student president of his 

graduating class and receiving a Reserve Officer Training 

Corps scholarship from the Navy; 

Whereas Captain Cross was an outstanding cadet at the Virginia Military Institute and graduated with an economics 

and business degree; 

Whereas Captain Cross is remembered by family and friends 

for his caring, compassion, magnetic personality, his love 

to fly, and the pride he had in being a Marine; 

Whereas Captain Cross earned his commission into the Marine Corps, advanced through flight school, and was assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 265 

(VMM–265); 

Whereas Captain Cross was decorated with the National Defense Service Medal and the Global War on Terrorism 

Service Medal; 


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Whereas, on the evening of August 5, 2017, Lance Corporal 

Velasco, Corporal Ordway, Captain Cross, and 23 other 

members of the Armed Forces, were conducting regularly 

scheduled operations aboard an MV–22B Osprey assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 265 

(VMM–265) in support of the 31st Marine Expeditionary 

Unit off the coast of the Shoalwater Bay Training Area, 

Queensland, Australia; 

Whereas the MV–22B Osprey was involved in a mishap and 

entered the water 18 miles off the coast; 

Whereas courageous search and rescue efforts ensured the 

safe rescue of 23 personnel aboard the downed aircraft; 

and 

Whereas Lance Corporal Velasco, Corporal Ordway, and Captain Cross made the ultimate sacrifice defending the 

United States with honor: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) extends its deepest sympathies to the fami3 lies and friends of fallen Marines Lance Corporal 

4 Ruben Velasco of West Covina, California, Corporal 

5 Nathaniel Ordway of Wichita, Kansas, and Captain 

6 Benjamin Cross of Bethel, Maine, in their bereave7 ment; 

8 (2) honors the courage and character of these 

9 brave Marines for protecting the United States and 

10 defending the freedom of all Americans; and 

11 (3) encourages the people of the United States 

12 to remember the sacrifices of Lance Corporal 


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1 Velasco, Corporal Ordway, and Captain Cross and 

2 pray for them and their families. 

Æ 


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