When U.S. Marines came to their front door Sunday to tell them about Spencer Collart’s death, his family says it felt like a scene from a war movie.
"It just doesn't feel real,” said his sister, Gwyneth Collart. “It doesn't."
Spencer Collart, 21, of Arlington, Virginia, was one of three U.S. Marines killed when an Osprey aircraft carrying 23 crashed Sunday in Australia.
"It was surreal, really hard,” said his mother, Alexia Collart. “You just can't believe it's happening."
Spencer Collart attended Washington-Liberty High School, where he played lacrosse. The day after he graduated, he joined the Marine Corps and was later stationed in Australia's northern territory. He was serving as an Osprey crew chief at the time of his death.
The Collarts’ grief has bred denial, like when Collart’s father felt his cellphone buzz Monday.
“Just for a split second there, I thought, you know, I thought it might be a call with good news, like a mistake,” Bart Collart said tearfully. “But it wasn't."
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"I do feel comfort sometimes, and I think it's Spencer,” Collart’s father said.
The Marine Corps said it's investigating the cause of the crash. Meanwhile, Collart’s fellow Marines are making sure his family knows exactly how he spent his final moments.
“We're hearing things about how this crew basically sacrificed their own lives so that others could live, and so we're really proud of that," his father said.
"He was a hero,” Gwyneth Collart said.
The Collarts say the Marine Corps is going through Spencer's file to learn if he made any final wishes. They say he is eligible to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
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