Parents of Marine killed in helicopter crash in San Diego County run 5K in his honor at MCAS Miramar – NBC 7 San Diego

For Steve and Caryn Langen, it is as if their life purpose changed overnight and they had no other choice.

“It’s only been four, four and a half months and I think it’s still very hard,” Steve said. “I think it’s always going to be hard.” His wife, Caryn, stood beside him, wiping away a tear and agreeing.

The couple’s 23-year-old son, Sergeant Alec Langen, was one of five Marines who died when their CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter crashed in bad weather near Pine Valley. His parents told NBC 7 that the job had been his dream since he was a child and he always went to the annual MCAS Miramar Air Show as a kid.

Not to mention, he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and work on the same Super Stallion helicopter. And that’s exactly what he did.

5 Marines killed in helicopter crash in San Diego’s East County identified

“You know, I did the same job with the same type of helicopter for many years and I said goodbye to him at his memorial service because I wasn’t sure if I would ever see one again,” Steve said, processing his visibly fresh emotions.

“It’s kind of ironic,” Steve said, that it was the first plane to land on the base’s tarmac Saturday. Hundreds of people gathered to run a 5K loop open to the public, including the Langens, both wearing bright orange shirts with Alec’s silhouette on them.

“Alec loved that helicopter, he loved the grease, he loved fixing it, he loved flying in it and sitting right on the tail,” Caryn said as she looked at the CH-53E. “When we saw it, the first thing we both said to each other was, ‘Let’s say hello.'”

“We feel him very much today,” Caryn said. She explained that Alec was stationed at the base in San Diego for four years. This was their first visit since his memorial service and they wanted to honor him in a big, if unlikely, way.

“We looked at the first run we could do and about 10 weeks before it was time. I just felt like it was the right thing to do,” Caryn said.

Neither Caryn nor Steve are self-proclaimed runners, but since Alec’s death, they have begun training for 5K runs with a new nonprofit they founded in his memory, Running 4 Alec. It’s a physically demanding task that matches the emotional exhaustion they’ve been experiencing since early 2024.

“We miss him very much. I think every parent obviously misses a child they’ve lost, but for us it’s about telling him today that we’re going to stick with this as long as we can,” Steve said. “And that he just knows that we love him.”

The official cause of the crash has not been released pending the military’s internal investigation, but the Langens aren’t interested in what happened. Instead, they want to move on 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 get home,” Steve said. “I think it means a lot to be with each other in the final moments, whether it’s comforting each other or working through whatever was going on. I think everyone needs to know that all five of them were together and I think that means a lot.”

“We came home for him,” Caryn said.