A video screen grab shows an MV-22 Osprey lifting off as it stirs up a cloud of dust. The body of Staff Sgt. Jacob Galliher, of Pittsfield, Mass., was recovered off the coast of Japan on Friday, after a CV-22 Osprey crashed on Wednesday. (Defense Department)
(Tribune News Service) — The body of an American airman from Massachusetts has been recovered off the coast of Japan after a military aircraft crashed there earlier this week, the man’s family and his congressional representative said Friday.
Staff Sgt. Jacob Galliher, a native of Pittsfield, was among eight members of the Air Force missing following the crash during a training flight Wednesday.
Galliher’s family was notified Thursday night that a search and rescue team had recovered his body, according to his stepfather, Tor Krautter.
Galliher, who was stationed in Japan, was a 2017 graduate of Taconic High School in Pittsfield, the city police department said in a statement Friday morning. He left behind his wife, 2-year-old and 6-week-old sons, and a loving family in Western Massachusetts, the Pittsfield Police Department said.
The Air Force Special Operations Command said a CV-22B Osprey, a plane-helicopter hybrid, “was involved in an aircraft mishap while performing a routine training mission off the shore of Yakushima Island, Japan,” on Wednesday.
At a press briefing Thursday, Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said the cause of the crash remained under investigation.
On Friday, the Air Force said American and Japanese search and rescue teams had recovered the body of one airman, while the seven others remained missing. An Air Force spokesperson said the military could not confirm the name of the person found until 24 hours after the airman’s family had been notified.
U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, D-1st District, who represents Pittsfield, said in a statement that Galliher “represented our nation’s best.”
“As a father, my heart goes out to Staff Sgt. Jacob Galliher’s mother and father during this difficult time,” Neal said Friday. “Any parent will tell you there is no greater pain than the pain of losing a child, and Jacob Galliher was beloved by all.”
Staff Sgt. Jacob Galliher, a native of Pittsfield, Mass., was among eight members of the Air Force missing following the crash of an CV-22 Osprey off the coast of Japan on Wednesday. His body was recovered on Friday, Dec. 1, 2023 (Berkshire County Sheriff’s Office/Facebook)
Galliher enlisted in the Air Force out of high school. He was a military linguist and was fluent in Mandarin Chinese, his family told the Berkshire Eagle.
He played four years of football at Taconic High School, his former coach, Jim Ziter, said in a phone call Friday.
“Jake was a great kid, a great kid,” Ziter, a Pittsfield Fire Department captain, said. “One of the hardest workers on my team. He was as loyal as could be. A great sense of humor. He was a great kid and a phenomenal football player, but more importantly a great kid.”
Ziter described Galliher as “a quiet leader” who led by example, became a mentor to younger players as he grew older, and “brought out the best in all his teammates.”
State Sen. Paul W. Mark, D-Berkshire/Hampden/Franklin/Hampshire, said he heard of the crash Wednesday from a family friend and helped the family connect with U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Markey’s staff. At the time the young airman was missing, not confirmed dead.
“It’s terrible,” Mark said Friday. “A young man serving his county and for this to happen.”
“It’s terrible news,” he said.
Yakushima Island, near where the Osprey crashed, is about 40 miles southwest of the Japanese mainland.
Republican Reporter Jim Kinney contributed to this story.
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