Tragedy struck last week in Twenty Nine Palms, Los Angeles. During the festive holidays, a U.S. Marine got engaged to his girlfriend whom he was looking forward to marrying shortly. However, fate had intervened just barely a month after his engagement when he died on Friday during a live-fire military exercise at the Air and Ground Combat facility.
Live-fire during training kills US Marine
Another soldier was also injured during the small arms exchange at the Marine Corps Combat Center. The reporting officer, Lt. Karen Holliday at the training facility stated that the accident happened a little after 5:00 p.m.
on Friday. Details on how the incident occurred or the condition of the injured soldier was not released publicly. However, the spokeswoman reported that the group of Marines was undergoing a series of integrated exercises, which was an integral part of their military training.
Information about the accident was reported by the San Bernardino-based Marine corps the following day on their Facebook’s account. In the statement Brig. Gen. William F. Mullen III, the commander of the military base, sends condolences and offered support to the families of the deceased and injured men. However, General Mullen III did not release their identities.
The young Lance Corporal wanted to be a Marine
But, friends and family of the dead man told the Daily News in Naples that he was 19-years-old Lance Corporal Austin Ruiz.
According to their report, the young man had always wanted to be a member of the Marine Corps and was very happy when he got accepted into the Military establishment.The young Lance Corporal, they said, had a lot to look forward to, he was looking forward to marrying his sweetheart whom he had proposed to less than a month ago.
Ruiz was a resident of Naples, Florida, he had recently graduated from high school and joined the Marines. The Twenty-Nine Palms training establishment where he died was the facility that members of the Marines from around the United States were sent to participate in an assortment of training exercises. These rugged engagements often involve a wide variety of hazardous activities including firing live ammunition at specified targets.
