A Marine was killed during a training exercise at Camp Pendleton in California on Aug. 17.
Rest in peace Joseph Whaley, of Columbia, Tennessee.
Whaley had graduated high school just last year.
He died while participating in a live-fire training at Camp Pendleton's School of Infantry, according to Marine recruiter Sgt. Blake Inlow.
Whaley joined the Marines after graduating from Columbia Central High School back in May of 2022.
At the time of his tragic passing, Whaley was a student assigned to the San Diego County base.
Major Joshua J. Pena was the first to confirm Whaley's death to multiple outlets.
Pena said that Whaley's cause of death has yet to be determined.
"An investigation into the circumstances of the death is ongoing and the command is fully cooperating with the investigation efforts," Pena said, adding:
The School of Infantry is providing support to the family and peers of the deceased during this difficult time.
Very few details on the incident were immediately available.
Whaley's death comes just a few years after eight Marines and a sailor were killed during a training exercise in July of 2020.
In that tragedy, an amphibious assault vehicle with 16 people aboard sank down 385 feet into the ocean off the coast of San Clemente Island.
Seven marines on board that tragic training exercise were rescued. The rest of them ended up being nothing but lifeless bodies at the bottom of the ocean.
War is brutal. All of it.
Not just the actual war itself.
Preparing for a war is brutal, participating in the war is brutal, and reacclimating to normal life after a war is brutal.
America owes a lot to its veterans. Even the ones that are still living were fully prepared and willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice at one point.
For that, we thank them.
God bless America, and God bless Joseph Whaley.
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