A member of the U.S. Navy was killed when his motorcycle collided with a car on Interstate 5 near the San Diego-Coronado Bridge Friday.
Lt. j.g. Mason Calhoun, 24, was an active-duty sailor who lived in Pacific Beach, according to the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office.
Calhoun was on his way to turn in paperwork as part of the application process to be a US Navy SEAL, his mother told a Virginia television station.
Connie Doering told WAVY said her funny and outgoing son had been living in San Diego for two years.
Calhoun most recently served on USS Decatur.
"He was a great leader and a great friend," Calhoun's friend Robert told NBC 7. "Hopefully I can be a tenth of that to the world and affect people the way he did."
He was riding a 2002 Harley Davidson Sportster when he collided with a PT Cruiser traveling in the same direction.
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The driver of the PT Cruiser moved to exit at the last moment, striking the motorcycle and launching Calhoun into a large Caltrans road sign.
Despite the efforts of an off-duty National City fire captain, Calhoun was pronounced dead minutes later.
The crash at about 9:30 a.m. in southbound lanes of I-5 near Cesar E. Chavez Parkway in Logan Heights shut down traffic while California Highway Patrol investigated the cause of the crash.
Robert said that several of Calhoun's close friends got tattoos on their thighs that read "Live Like Mason," a permanent reminder to take on the character traits that they say made their pal so special.
"He would try something new, follow people at it, learn about it and then become the best at it,"
The medical examiner said the incident has been deemed an accident.
An online fundraising page to help defer costs of a funeral said that Calhoun was stationed on USS Decatur.
