Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
US Marines ID All 9 People Killed in Sea-Tank Sinking
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 4 years ago on
August 3, 2020

Share

SAN DIEGO — The U.S. Marine Corps has identified all nine people killed when a Marine landing craft sank in hundreds of feet of water off the Southern California coast.

Only one of their bodies was found, despite an intense days-long search involving helicopters and boats ranging from inflatables to a Navy destroyer.

Found at the scene was Lance Cpl. Guillermo S. Perez, 20, of New Braunfels Texas. The 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit announced on Sunday that the others, from California, Texas, Wisconsin and Oregon, are “presumed dead.”

They include: Pfc. Bryan J. Baltierra, 19, of Corona, California; Lance Cpl. Marco A. Barranco, 21, of Montebello, California; Pfc. Evan A. Bath, 19, of Oak Creek, Wisconsin; U.S. Navy Hospitalman Christopher Gnem, 22, of Stockton, California; Pfc. Jack Ryan Ostrovsky, 21, of Bend, Oregon; Cpl. Wesley A. Rodd, 23, of Harris, Texas; Lance Cpl. Chase D. Sweetwood, 19, of Portland, Oregon; and Cpl. Cesar A. Villanueva, 21, of Riverside, California.

“Literally every asset we have available” was mobilized in the search for seven Marines and a Navy corpsman, Lt. Gen. Joseph Osterman, commander of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, said Friday.

They were aboard an amphibious assault vehicle that was heading back to a Navy ship Thursday evening after a routine training exercise when it began taking on water about a half-mile from Navy-owned San Clemente Island, off San Diego.

Other assault vehicles quickly responded but couldn’t stop the 26-ton, tank-like vehicle from quickly sinking, Osterman said.

“The assumption is that it went completely to the bottom” several hundred feet below, Osterman said. That was too deep for divers, and Navy and Coast Guard were discussing ways to reach the sunken vehicle to get a view inside it, Osterman said.

The Sunken Craft, One of 13 Involved in the Exercise, Was Designed to Be Naturally Buoyant

Seven other Marines were rescued from the water; two were in stable condition at a hospital, authorities said.

All the Marines were attached to the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, based at nearby Camp Pendleton. They ranged in age from 19 to early 30s and all were wearing combat gear, including body armor, and flotation vests, Osterman said.

The vehicle, known as an AAV but nicknamed an “amtrac,” for “amphibious tractor” is used to take Marines and their gear from Navy ships to land.

The sunken craft, one of 13 involved in the exercise, was designed to be naturally buoyant and had three water-tight hatches and two large troop hatches, Osterman said.

The vehicles have been used since 1972, and continually refurbished. Marine Corps officials said Friday they did not know the age or other details of the one that sank.

The Marine Corps commandant, Gen. David Berger, suspended waterborne operations of more than 800 amphibious assault vehicles across the branch until the cause of the accident is determined.

This is the third time in recent years that Camp Pendleton Marines have been injured or died in amphibious assault vehicles during training exercises.

In 2017, 14 Marines and one Navy sailor were hospitalized after their vehicle hit a natural gas line, igniting a fire that engulfed the landing craft at Camp Pendleton.

In 2011, a Marine died when an amphibious assault vehicle in a training exercise sank offshore of the camp.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

UCLA Can’t Let Protesters Block Jewish Students From Campus, Judge Says

DON'T MISS

Ukraine’s Surprise Attack Has Forced Russia to Change Plans

DON'T MISS

Californians Will Vote on $18 Minimum Wage. Workers Want $25 and More.

DON'T MISS

Ricardo Lara Deserves Credit for Trying to Solve California’s Home Insurance Crisis

DON'T MISS

Mark Gardner on Giants’ 2014 World Series Title, Why Fresno Turns Out Great Players

DON'T MISS

Presented With Rise in Border Crossings, Kamala Harris Chose a Long-Term Approach to the Problem

DON'T MISS

WHO Declares Mpox Outbreaks in Africa a Global Health Emergency as a New Form of the Virus Spreads

DON'T MISS

What the Republican Party Might Look Like if Trump Loses

DON'T MISS

Vikings QB McCarthy Needs Surgery on Meniscus Tear in Right Knee

DON'T MISS

Japan’s Prime Minister Prepares to Step Down. Why, and What’s Next?

UP NEXT

San Francisco Prosecutors Charge 26 Pro-Palestinian Demonstrators Who Blocked Golden Gate Bridge

UP NEXT

California Task Force Seizes 2.2 Million Cannabis Packages Mimicking Kids’ Candy

UP NEXT

Police Investigate Fatal Shooting in Southeast Fresno

UP NEXT

Leaked Videos Reveal Project 2025’s Radical Plans for Trump-like Administration

UP NEXT

Former Cornell Student Gets 21 Months in Prison for Posting Violent Threats to Jewish Students

UP NEXT

California Gov. Gavin Newsom Nudges School Districts to Restrict Student Cellphone Use

UP NEXT

Feds Charge ex-LA County Deputies in Sham Raid, $37M Extortion

UP NEXT

Earthquake With Magnitude of 4.4 Strikes Los Angeles Area, USGS Says

UP NEXT

Activists Demand Harris Take Action Against Israeli ‘Genocide’ at SF Rally

UP NEXT

Harris Hopes a New Playbook Will Neutralize GOP Attacks on Immigration

Ricardo Lara Deserves Credit for Trying to Solve California’s Home Insurance Crisis

1 hour ago

Mark Gardner on Giants’ 2014 World Series Title, Why Fresno Turns Out Great Players

2 hours ago

Presented With Rise in Border Crossings, Kamala Harris Chose a Long-Term Approach to the Problem

2 hours ago

WHO Declares Mpox Outbreaks in Africa a Global Health Emergency as a New Form of the Virus Spreads

2 hours ago

What the Republican Party Might Look Like if Trump Loses

3 hours ago

Vikings QB McCarthy Needs Surgery on Meniscus Tear in Right Knee

3 hours ago

Japan’s Prime Minister Prepares to Step Down. Why, and What’s Next?

3 hours ago

Ukraine Says It Has Taken More Ground and Prisoners During Its Advance Into Russia Border Region

3 hours ago

Michigan’s Sherrone Moore Looks Forward to Release of Text Messages in Sign-Stealing Investigation

4 hours ago

Fresno State Foundation Gets $8M Federal Grant to Boost Graduation Rate

4 hours ago

UCLA Can’t Let Protesters Block Jewish Students From Campus, Judge Says

A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily barred the University of California, Los Angeles, from allowing protesters to set up encampments that...

11 mins ago

11 mins ago

UCLA Can’t Let Protesters Block Jewish Students From Campus, Judge Says

16 mins ago

Ukraine’s Surprise Attack Has Forced Russia to Change Plans

34 mins ago

Californians Will Vote on $18 Minimum Wage. Workers Want $25 and More.

1 hour ago

Ricardo Lara Deserves Credit for Trying to Solve California’s Home Insurance Crisis

2 hours ago

Mark Gardner on Giants’ 2014 World Series Title, Why Fresno Turns Out Great Players

2 hours ago

Presented With Rise in Border Crossings, Kamala Harris Chose a Long-Term Approach to the Problem

2 hours ago

WHO Declares Mpox Outbreaks in Africa a Global Health Emergency as a New Form of the Virus Spreads

3 hours ago

What the Republican Party Might Look Like if Trump Loses

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend