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Journal Sentinel Daywatch:

MSOE grad dies in Iraq chopper crash

Apple Valley, Minn. - Even back in high school, it had always been Nate Doring's dream to be able to fly.

"He always loved aviation - and soccer, too," Cara Skoglund said yesterday of her younger brother, Capt. Nathanael J. Doring, a Milwaukee School of Engineering grad who died when the helicopter he was piloting crashed into a large lake near the Al Taqaddum airbase in Iraq.

The Defense Department described Saturday's crash as a non-hostile accident. The crash also killed a Marine from Kansas.

Because special equipment had to be brought to the crash site to search for and recover the helicopter, Doring's death wasn't confirmed until Monday.

Family members said they were told Doring, 31, was on a maintenance test flight in his AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter from the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing when it went down.

"It was his second tour there - he was proud to be a Marine," said Doring's father, James, who lives with his wife, Betsy, in Apple Valley.

Doring was a 1993 graduate of Apple Valley High School and earned a degree in electrical engineering from the Milwaukee School of Engineering in 1997. Two years later, he joined the Marines and earned his pilot's wings on Oct. 11, 2001.

"He was very focused, a high achiever and a very goal-oriented person. He chose this route for himself. He always wanted to fly," said Doring's aunt, Becky Gamble, of Inver Grove Heights.

Doring's unit returned to the United States in April, but he decided to extend his tour in a non-combat role until his wife, Lisa, also a Marine officer, finished her tour in the fall. The couple met while stationed at Camp Pendleton in California and married three years ago.

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