The second Marine who died following the crash of a Camp Pendleton-based aircraft during a training mission in Hawaii was publicly identified Thursday as a 21-year-old resident of Maricopa, Arizona.
Lance Cpl. Matthew J. Determan was fatally injured when the MV-22 Osprey assigned to the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit based at Camp Pendleton crashed during a routine training mission at Marine Corps Training Area- Bellows, according to USMC public-affairs Capt. Brian Block.
“Lance Cpl. Determan represents the best America has to offer,” 15th MEU Commanding Officer Col. Vance Cryer said. “Our country and our Corps are poorer for his loss, but his example will continue to inspire us.”
Determan, a rifleman assigned to 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines, was stationed at Camp Pendleton before he deployed with the 15th MEU, which departed San Diego on May 10 for a seven-month deployment.
Also fatally injured in the crash was 24-year-old Lance Cpl. Joshua E. Barron of Spokane, Washington, according to the 15th MEU.
The mishap left 20 other Marines injured. Two of them remained hospitalized Wednesday in stable condition, Block said.
“Please continue to keep everyone in your thoughts and prayers,” Cryer said. “They will certainly be on the minds of everyone in the MEU as we continue our deployment.”
The I Marine Expeditionary Force is heading an investigation into the cause of the crash, which took place in a training area in Waimanalo on the island of Oahu.
—City News Service
