SEQUIM – One military veteran is dead and another hospitalized after a van carrying veterans back from medical treatment in Seattle struck a tree on U.S. Highway 101 near the entrance to Sequim Bay State Park on Friday afternoon.
The collision occurred at about 3:30 p.m. at the base of the same western hemlock that 70-year-old Kay Lynn Clure of Poulsbo struck in her Jeep Cherokee 16 days earlier.
Howard Leroy Fisher, 68, of Port Angeles died at Olympic Medical Center on Friday evening.
He was pinned in the passenger seat by the dashboard, and emergency crews had to wrench the door off to pull him free.
He had been wearing a seat belt.
Daniel Lee Hendrickson, 67, of Port Angeles was listed in serious condition at the Port Angeles hospital.
Hendrickson had been buckled into the bench seat behind the driver and passenger.
James Walter Paul, 63, of Port Angeles, was driving the westbound 2006 Ford Econoline van painted with the colors of the American flag.
He was driving the van for the Disabled American Veterans, a nonprofit service group that shuttles Clallam County veterans to and from Veterans Administration medical facilities in the Seattle area.
Paul was treated and released from Olympic Medical Center.
After Clure hit the tree earlier this month, she was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
She was listed in stable condition Saturday.
