Marine Killed in Accident Had Reston Ties

Donald Budrejko of Reston says his son, Lt. Col. Thomas Budrejko, "died doing what he loved to do."

Thomas Budrejko, 37, was one of seven Marines killed when two Marine Corps helicopters collided during training in Arizona on Wednesday. The Marines released the named of the victims on Friday.

"He died doing what he wanted to do," Donald Budrejko told The Day.com, a Connecticut news website. "He wanted to be a Marine and he wanted to fly. It was sad when two Marines and a chaplain showed up at door, I knew this isn't good, but that's the way he would have wanted to die."

Thomas Budrejko was a graduate of Montville High School in Connecticut and the U.S. Naval Academy. He was an executive officer of Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 469 at Marine Corps Air Station Camp Pendleton. He lived in Temecula, CA.

To read more about him, click here. To see an TV interview with Donald and Mary Budrejko visit WJLA.com