Coast Guard was his life's plan

When his son was a freshman at Norristown Area High School, John Moletzsky asked him what he planned to do with his life.

The youngest of three, Jason "Jake" Stephen Moletzsky said without a bit of doubt that he wanted to join the Coast Guard. The teen was already passionate about aviation - a bug he had caught from tales about his father's combat missions. When a neighbor took Jason Moletzsky up in a small plane, he was hooked.

In 2002, he graduated and joined the Coast Guard with his family's blessing. Yesterday, Petty Officer Second Class Moletzsky, 26, was among the nine missing - and now thought to have perished - as a result of a midair collision between a Coast Guard plane searching for a missing boater and a Marine Corps helicopter on a training exercise over the Pacific Ocean on Thursday.

"He was a great, great kid," said John Moletzsky from his home in Norristown. "I don't think I could have asked for a better son. When this happened, I lost my best friend."

Moletzsky, who was an aviation maintenance technician, had transferred to the Coast Guard Air Station in Sacramento, Calif., from his Florida posting only in July. He moved with his girlfriend of six years and his American bulldog.

Moletzsky loved boats and airplanes and the adventures that a Coast Guardsman could face, but mostly, he enjoyed helping others, his family said. In Florida, he helped deliver a baby on a cruise ship. He also had received numerous awards, including a Coast Guard achievement medal, rifle marksman ribbon, meritorious unit commendation and special operations service ribbons.

"He did it with gusto, much like the other crew members lost with him," his father said.

His mother, Lisa, said she took comfort from the way her son touched the lives of so many. Her son's friends told her that Jake was the kind of person who "everyone flocked to. He was respectful and loyal to family and friends. . . . He was a leader in his own right."

Moletzsky, who loved the outdoors and cold-weather sports, had plans to snowboard at Lake Tahoe. He also was set to return home to Norristown for the Thanksgiving holidays - in time for the birth of his sister Amanda's second child.

"He was a wonderful man who served his country and his family and who was well-loved," said his mother, struggling to hold back tears.