Michael J. Strange | Services set

A Funeral Mass for Navy Petty Officer First Class Michael Joseph Strange, 25, will be said at 3 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 18, at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul, 18th Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Friends may call from 11 a.m.

Petty Officer Strange, who grew up in the Wissinoming section of Philadelphia, was among 30 U.S. service members killed Saturday, Aug. 6, in the crash of a CH-47 Chinook helicopter in eastern Afghanistan. A civilian interpreter and seven Afghan commandos also died in the attack. U.S. officials told the Associated Press the Chinook was shot down during a mission to aid Army Rangers who had come under fire.

"He was an ordinary Philly kid who loved his cheesesteaks and loved the Eagles. Yet in his job, he was doing extraordinary things," his aunt Maggie O'Brien told The Inquirer.

He played rugby for North Catholic High School and had a part-time job cooking wings and crabs at a tavern in Port Richmond, his father, Charles Strange Jr., said.

Three months after graduating from high school in 2004, he joined the Navy and completed boot camp in Great Lakes, Ill.

He met his fiancée, Breanna Hostetler, who was also a Navy recruit, during his first tour of duty when they were stationed together in Florida and Hawaii. She left the military when their enlistments ended, but he decided to re-up.

He transferred to an East Coast base, where he supported a Navy SEAL team as a cryptological technician.

At the base, he competed in fitness challenges and came out on top, his family said.

"He loved the physical aspect of it, the training," his brother, Charles III, told The Inquirer.

Petty Officer Strange, who had been in Afghanistan since earlier this summer, hoped to become a nurse after leaving the Navy.

In addition to his fiancée, father, and brother, he is survived by his mother, Elizabeth Strange; sisters Katelyn and Carly; a grandmother, Madeline Bernice Strange; and a niece, Juliana.

Donations may be made to NEADS Canines for Combat Veterans, Box 213, West Boylston, Mass. 01583.