MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Fourteen local Marines who died more than four years ago in a Marine Corps operational test flight crash were immortalized June 11 at Camp San Mateo.
The Marines were all members of I Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment.
"Every clime and place, we stand ready to defend our nation and our way of life, to make this world a better place for our children and their children," said Col. R. Stewart Navarre, commanding officer of 5th Marine Regiment, addressing a crowd gathered for the memorial.
"If there was any other way to go, each individual would have honor in going this way," said Sgt. Donald Hunt, a squad leader with 1st Platoon, 3/5. "They did their job ... the accident is a bad thing, but it takes something like this to make people realize our job is reality."
The black granite memorial, placed on pavement across the street from the Camp San Mateo Chapel, honors the I Co. Marines who died in a nighttime training exercise April 8, 2000. The crash occurred during operational flight testing of the MV-22 Osprey, the heir apparent to the Vietnam-era CH-46 Sea Knight troop-transport helo. The crash occurred in the desert near Marana, Ariz.
The crash, and other mishaps involving the Osprey, temporarily prompted suspension of Osprey operational testing. The testing has since resumed.
"They fell, as members of the regiment continue to fall, in the defense or our nation," Navarre said of the Marines.
The memorial serves as an everlasting reminder of those Marines, 3/5 Marines said.
"The shock finally set in when they were reading the roster and actually finding out who was gone," said Sgt. Jared G. McNerney, a rifleman with I Co. McNerney was with the unit when the accident occurred.
Navarre and retired Lt. Col. Thomas M. Vetter of the 1st Marine Division Association presented the memorial to families and friends of the departed Marines who attended.
The memorial project is long-term and will be enhanced in the future.
"Col. R. Stewart Navarre should be commended in his vision and actions in having the memorial brought forth for our Marines and families to reflect upon," Vetter said. "It was a great Marine team that put the whole sight together. I believe Navarre is still putting diligent effort into adding to the sight."