Editor’s note: The Marine Corps has identified the deceased as Staff Sgt. Jerry L. Betzold, 26, from Avon, Indiana.
A Marine died Sunday following a Humvee rollover the previous day at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms, California, officials said.
In a release posted on social media, Capt. Johnathon Huizar, spokesman for the combat center’s training center, said the cause of the rollover remains under investigation.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of the Marine during this difficult time,” Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms said in a statement.
The Marine, who was not publicly identified at the time of this story’s original publication, was assigned to the center’s Tactical Training Exercise Control Group.
The Marine was initially treated at the Robert E. Bush Naval Hospital at Twentynine Palms and medically evacuated to Desert Regional Medical Center, Palm Springs, California, where medical authorities later pronounced the Marine deceased, according to the release.
The incident occurred during Service Level Training Exercise 5-24. The event has been described on Marine websites as a “tailored event” for the Marine Corps Tactics and Operations Group and Marine Corps Logistics Operations Group.
Those units teach and mentor operational Marine units that rotate through the center throughout the year for a variety of training events.
The last publicly reported fatality in an on-duty ground vehicle mishap occurred Dec. 12, 2023, when an amphibious combat vehicle rolled over at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California, resulting in the death of Sgt. Matthew Bylski.
In the December accident, the service reported 11 other Marines sustained injuries that required hospital treatment, according to the Navy Safety Command data.
Todd South has written about crime, courts, government and the military for multiple publications since 2004 and was named a 2014 Pulitzer finalist for a co-written project on witness intimidation. Todd is a Marine veteran of the Iraq War.
