YUMA, Ariz. – A Marine pilot from Maine who was killed in a helicopter crash in Kuwait had always been a hero to his family, his wife said, “and now he is a hero to everyone.”

Maj. Jay Aubin, who was among the first U.S. dead in the war with Iraq, died for his country in a cause he truly believed in, Rhonda Aubin said in a statement released Wednesday.

“I love him and always will and his going away has left a hole in my life that cannot be filled,” Mrs. Aubin said.

Mrs. Aubin’s statement, her first public comment since the crash, was read by her husband’s commanding officer after a memorial service that drew hundreds to a chapel at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma.

The officer, Lt. Col. Bernard Krueger, remembered Aubin as a good instructor and a good Marine. “But above all else, he was a gift to our unit because he was genuine, selfless and cheerful,” Krueger said.

Aubin, 36, who grew up in Skowhegan, Maine, was among four U.S. Marines and eight British Marines killed last week when their CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter crashed and burned nine miles from the Iraqi border. The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

Aubin, who was promoted from captain posthumously, trained pilots from the Marine Corps and other military services as part of the Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron-1. He had been stationed here since July.

Krueger said Aubin’s call name was “Sweet Pea,” a reference to his kind personality.

His death brought the war home for many in this military community. Mourners at the memorial service nearly filled a base chapel that seats about 600.

After the service, mourners filed out of the chapel to watch as three Sea Knight helicopters flew past in formation. One helicopter pulled away, leaving the two in the “missing man” formation often used to honor dead pilots.

The service, which reporters weren’t allowed to attend, was described as being alternately sad and humorous.

“It was sombe,r but still there was a goodness surrounding him and that feeling came out,” said base spokesman Lt. Kevin Hyde.

In Maine, a memorial service for Aubin will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Winslow, home of Aubin’s mother, Nancy Chamberlain. Maine Gov. John Baldacci will attend the service.

Aubin was one of two Marines with ties to Maine who died in the helicopter crash. The other was Cpl. Brian Matthew Kennedy, 25, whose mother, Melissa Derbyshire, lives in Port Clyde.

Kennedy, a resident of Houston, was based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. A memorial service for Kennedy and the two other Marines from Camp Pendleton killed in the crash was held Tuesday. The other two were Capt. Ryan Anthony Beaupre, 30, of Bloomington, Ill., who was the helicopter pilot, and Staff Sgt. Kendall Damon Waters-Bey, 29, of Baltimore, a specialist in helicopter maintenance.

Kennedy’s father, Mark Kennedy, who traveled from Houston for Tuesday’s service, said he admired his son’s drive to be the best Marine he could be.

“He had a fierce desire to join the Marine Corps when he was in college. He threw himself at it 100 percent,” he said.

Also, Baldacci directed Wednesday that the U.S. and Maine flags be flown at half-staff from sunrise to sunset on Saturday, March 29, in remembrance and honor of Aubin and Kennedy.

Baldacci said the two men “demonstrated courage and a profound sense of duty. We will not forget their sacrifice.”