GNEM-CHRISTOPHER

KILLED  IN  DEADLY  TRAINING  ACCIDENT

On July 30, 2020, members of the 1st Battalion, 4^th Regiment, 15^th Marine Expeditionary Unit, based at Camp Pendleton, engaged in amphibious training exercises at San Clemente Island off the coast of San Diego.  As their amphibious assault vehicle (AAV) was returning to a Navy ship waiting off the island, the AAV began taking on water and quickly sank.  The accident resulted in the deaths of nine Marines has been described by the Marine Corps as the deadliest training accident involving that type of vehicle in the history of the Marine Corps.  There were a reported fifteen Marines and one sailor aboard the AAV.  After the sinking it was determined that seven Marines had successfully evacuated the AAV as it sank, one body was recovered at the scene, one injured Marine was airlifted to a San Diego hospital where he died, and the bodies of the remaining seven men were not recovered until the AAV was located by a robotic submarine and raised on August 7th from 385-feet.  As of the time of this writing the Marine Corps has not announced the cause of the AAV taking on water.

Hospital Corpsman Third Class Christopher Gnem was unfortunately one of the nine men who died during this accident and whose body was recovered on August 7^th.  Gnem was born February 27, 1998 in Stockton, California, where he lived until joining the Navy.  He graduated from Lincoln High School in Stockton in 2016 and reportedly joined the Navy in May 2017.  After training as a Hospital Corpsman, he was assigned duty with the 1^st Battalion, 4^th Marine Regiment, 15^th Marine Expeditionary Unit at Camp Pendleton.  His aunt wrote, “He was proud to serve his country and loved his Marine team whom he was with until the end.  We will miss his ear-to-ear smile, goofy laugh, and kind heart.  He was the heart of the family.”  His fiancée, also a Hospital Corpsman, posted, “I know he was pushing his Marines out first trying to be the true hero that he’s always been.  He didn’t need to doc up right then, but I’m sure two people are still alive because of him.”

HM3 Christopher Gnem was buried with military honors at Cherokee Memorial Park in Lodi, California.  He is survived by his mother, two sisters, and fiancée.

                

Submitted by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (Ret)