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