For Steve and Caryn Langen, it is as if their life’s mission shifted overnight and they didn’t have a choice.
“It’s only been four months, four and a half, and I think that things are still really hard,” Steve said. “I think it’s going to be hard forever.” His wife, Caryn, stood next to him, wiped a tear, and agreed.
The pair’s 23-year-old son, Sgt. Alec Langen, was one of five Marines who died when their CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter crashed during inclement weather near Pine Valley. His parents told NBC 7 it was a dream job of his since he was a kid and grew up going to the annual MCAS Miramar Air Show.
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
Not to mention, he wanted to follow in his dad’s footsteps and work on the same Super Stallion helicopter. So, he did.
5 Marines killed in helicopter crash in San Diego's East County identified
“You know, I did the same job for many years in the same kind of helicopter, so I had said goodbye to it at his memorial, because I wasn’t sure if I could see one again,” Steve said, working past emotions that are so visibly fresh.
Local
“It’s kind of ironic,” Steve said that it was the first aircraft sitting on the tarmac Saturday on-base. Hundreds of people gathered to run a 5K loop that was open to the public, including the Langens who both wore bright orange shirts with an outline of Alec printed on them.
“Alec loved that helicopter, he loved the grease, he loved fixing it, he loved riding in it, sitting on the tail right there,” Caryn said as she looked at the CH-53E. “So seeing it, that’s the first thing we both said to each other, let’s go say hi.”
“We feel him today, a lot,” Caryn said. She explained Alec spent four years assigned to the San Diego base. This was their first time returning since his memorial service and they wanted to honor him in a big, albeit unlikely for them, way.
“We looked up the first run that we could do and like 10 weeks out and this was it. I just kind of felt like it was the right thing to do,” Caryn said.
Neither Caryn nor Steve are self-proclaimed runners, but since Alec’s passing they began training for 5K events with a new non-profit they created in his memory, Running 4 Alec. It is a physically exhausting task to match the emotional exhaustion they’ve been dealt since early 2024.
“We’ll keep training, keep running, keep pounding out our grief."
Caryn Langen, Alec's mother
“We miss him a lot. I think every parent obviously would miss a child that they lost, but, you know, for us it’s letting him know today we’re going to be doing this as long as we can,” Steve said. "And for him to just know that we love him.”
The official cause of the crash has not been released pending the military’s internal investigation, but the Langens are not interested in what happened. Instead, they want to continue to move forward and honor his legacy of kindness, mentorship and service.
“The five of them were together, the five of them made a decision and the five of them were trying to come home,” Steve said. “I think being with each other in the final moments, whether consoling each other or working out the issues, whatever was going on, I think everybody needs to know that all five of them were together and I think that means a lot.”
“We came back home for him,” Caryn said.
