Marine pilot from Sparks dies

Watching from a New York street as the World Trade Center towers fell, Alex Yaggy knew his younger brother, Marine instructor pilot David Yaggy, would be among the first leading the country’s response to the Sept. 11 attacks.

“He was going into harm’s way on our account,” Mr. Yaggy said of his brother’s tour of duty in Afghanistan. “I can tell you I was extremely proud of his service for our country, as someone who watched the World Trade Center collapse with my own eyes.”

Major Yaggy, 34, of Sparks, survived that duty and two tours in Iraq but was killed Friday afternoon on a routine training flight when his plane crashed near Ashville, Ala., about 60 miles northeast of Birmingham.

Another Marine, 2nd Lt. Alexander Prezioso, 23, of Lake Worth, Fla., also died in the crash, according to the Navy. Lieutenant Prezioso was a student in primary flight training at Naval Air Station Whiting Field in Milton, Fla.

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