The brother of a U.S. Marine captain from Bethel who died during a training exercise in August said his family never received a phone call or letter from the White House, another claim that undercuts President Trump’s assertion that he has reached out to all the families of fallen soldiers.

Benjamin Cross, a 2009 graduate of Telstar Regional High School, was one of three Americans killed when a military aircraft crashed into the sea off the east coast of Australia. Also killed were Cpl. Nathaniel Ordway, 21, of Sedgwick, Kansas, and Pfc. Ruben Velasco, 19, of Los Angeles.

Cross’ older brother, Ryan Cross, who also is a veteran, said he was offended by the president’s assertion this week that he has “called every family of somebody that’s died, and it’s the hardest call to make.”

“I find it sickening that he is using fallen service members to score political points, especially when his claims of reaching out to every Gold Star family are completely false,” Cross said in a text message Thursday after the Portland Press Herald sought information about whether his family was called.

The ongoing debate started when Trump was asked during a news conference Monday about his delayed response to the deaths of four Green Berets in Niger. Trump defended himself, saying that he calls or writes letters, often both, to families of fallen soldiers, and that prior presidents had rarely done so – a claim that has since been proven false. On Tuesday, he reportedly spoke insensitively to the mother of one of the soldiers killed in Niger. Trump has disputed that claim and said he has proof, although his press secretary acknowledged Wednesday that no tape recording of the call exists.

In addition to the family of Benjamin Cross, the only Maine serviceman to die during the Trump administration, several families of other Americans killed in action told The Washington Post this week that they have not heard from the president.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

Ryan Cross said his family did receive calls from U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin, as well as letters from U.S. Sen. Angus King and U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis, and that he has no interest in getting a call from Trump now.

“Personally, I’d rather not hear from him given that I don’t believe he has any clue as to what service and sacrifice really mean, nor does he understand the gravity of what we as members of the armed forces, veterans and their families risk and have risked,” said Cross, a U.S. Army captain who served in Afghanistan in 2014. He left active duty Aug. 1, less than a week before his brother died.

Benjamin Cross, 26, had dreamed of being a pilot from a young age, according to friends and family. He attended the Virginia Military Institute on a full scholarship after high school and spent time training and serving in Washington, D.C., Florida, and Texas before being sent overseas with the Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 265, stationed on Okinawa, in 2016.

Cross, a first lieutenant who was promoted posthumously to captain, was one of 26 people aboard an Osprey aircraft – a helicopter-airplane hybrid – that crashed while trying to land aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard. All but three of the crew members were rescued.

The crash remains under investigation.

Cross’ death was a shock to the small town of Bethel, particularly for his family and a close-knit group of friends. He was laid to rest last month with full military honors at Riverside Cemetery.

This week, the local school board voted unanimously to name the Telstar Regional High School baseball and soccer fields in his honor. They will be called the “Captain Benjamin R. Cross Memorial Field.”

Eric Russell can be contacted at 791-6344 or at:

[email protected]

Twitter: PPHEricRussell

Send questions/comments to the editors.