LOCAL

Honoring Capt. Nicholas P. Losapio: Marine returns home to NH after fatal Osprey crash

Max Sullivan
Portsmouth Herald

KENSINGTON — The late Capt. Nicholas P. Losapio received an honorary police escort from Logan Airport in Boston to Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, Tuesday. The remains of the Kensington native who graduated from Exeter High School were transported following his death in a training accident this month.

Losapio, 31, was a pilot and one of five Marines who died when their Osprey tiltrotor crashed in the California desert June 8. His remains arrived Tuesday and was brought through the New Hampshire Seacoast on Interstate 95 at approximately 1 p.m., according to Kensington Police Chief Scott Cain. Losapio's family lives near Wolfeboro. 

Tiffany Prevost consoles her family after they watched the police escort of the late Capt. Nicholas P. Losapio of Kensington Tuesday, June 28, 2022 from a bridge over Interstate 95 in Seabrook, New Hampshire. Tiffany says she watched him grow up from diapers and feels like his cousin since they are close family friends. "He was supposed to get married in August. This is just terrible."

Cain said his department, Massachusetts State Police and New Hampshire State Police worked to coordinate the escort. It included four police units from the Kensington Police Department, Cain said, adding he put out a message to all of the chiefs in New Hampshire about participating.

Previous story:Capt. Nicholas Losapio, Exeter High graduate, among 5 Marines killed in Osprey crash

Cain said there are 10 to 15 bridges between the New Hampshire border and Wolfeboro, and the goal was to have each one feature an American flag display put on by local fire departments. He said the tribute is rare for a small town like Kensington, but Losapio earned it.

“This is a huge respect,” Cain said. “This gentleman gave up his life for freedom.”

Capt. Nicholas P. Losapio

Losapio was a 2009 Exeter High School graduate who was a member of the school's wrestling team. He had picked up the sport in his final two years there, earning two wins by pin on the team’s Senior Day in 2009. He went on to graduate magna cum laude from Norwich University in 2013, before being commissioned as an officer.

Obituary:Capt. Nicholas P. Losapio, 1991-2022

Losapio received his pilot “wings” in 2016 and served as an active-duty pilot attached to VMM-364, “The Purple Foxes” squadron. He was remembered by his fellow Marines for his “infectious smile and outrageous laugh,” according to his obituary. He was given the official call-sign “Sloppy” and became known as a “bad a**” Osprey pilot, the obituary states, “respected, and admired by many.”

The late Capt. Nicholas P. Losapio received an honorary police escort from Logan Airport in Boston to Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, Tuesday, June 28, 2022, passing through Seabrook where police and fire departments saluted. The remains of the Kensington native who graduated from Exeter High School are being transported following his death in a training accident this month.

Losapio was known just as well at home for his infectious laugh and courageous personality. His longtime Kensington neighbor Susan Mattila Vitale posted on Facebook about how she will always remember the sound of him shouting “woohoo” and laughing as his jet ski skated across their lake. She recalled his “all-tooth smile,” hugs that lifted feet off the ground and his “green-eyed gaze” that assured he was listening like it was “all that mattered” in that moment.

“Equal parts knucklehead and braveheart, you modeled for us all how to live life fully,” Vitale wrote, “And squeeze every damned drop out of it.”

The late Capt. Nicholas P. Losapio received an honorary police escort from Logan Airport in Boston to Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, Tuesday, June 28, 2022, passing through Seabrook, where police and fire departments saluted. The remains of the Kensington native who graduated from Exeter High School are being transported following his death in a training accident this month.

Losapio was the pilot of the Osprey that crashed, as well as the longest-serving member of the Marines among those who died. He had been a Marine for eight years and nine months. They were participating in routine live-fire training over their gunnery range in the Imperial Valley desert, according to a spokesman for the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing.

The cause of the crash is under investigation. The Osprey, a hybrid airplane and helicopter, flew in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but have been criticized by some as unsafe. There had been 46 deaths caused by Osprey crashes prior to the crash that killed Losapio, the Los Angeles Times reported.

More about the crash:Aircraft with 5 Marines on board crashes in Southern California

Cain said Losapio’s death is a “huge loss” for the community. 

“This soldier sacrificed his life to keep freedom in our country,” Cain said. 

The late Capt. Nicholas P. Losapio received an honorary police escort from Logan Airport in Boston to Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, Tuesday, June 28, 2022, passing through Seabrook where police and fire departments saluted. The remains of the Kensington native who graduated from Exeter High School are being transported following his death in a training accident this month.

A celebration of Losapio's life, including full military honors, will take place Saturday, July 9, beginning with a family procession in Wofeboro, according to his obituary.