Ten months after a Marine was killed aboard the Twentynine Palms base, the Naval Criminal Investigation Service released information on the death of Pfc. Casey James Holmes. Holmes, 20, of Chico, California, joined the Marines in May 2012. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marines. Holmes’ unit was taking part in a month-long training exercise and was killed Monday, March 11, 2013. Marine authorities had refused to reveal any information about Holmes’ death except that it was the result of a “traffic accident.” The Chico Enterprise-Record filed Freedom of Information Act requests and the NCIS surrendered a highly redacted 128 pages. The reports said Holmes had been directed to dig a “fighting hole”. The shallow foxholes were interspersed among a unit of amphibious assault vehicles. Shortly before 11 p.m., a pair of Marine bulldozers, called MCT’s, approached the encampment. The report said many Marines at the scene began screaming and waving at the two dozers, traveling in single file, to stop. The lead bulldozer came to a stop directly on top of Holmes, who was in a sleeping bag in the fighting hole. The driver of the dozer said he stopped and a Marine screamed at him to drive forward. After moving the dozer, the driver said quote – “It looked as if I had driven the MCT over someone. I heard several voices yelling for a corpsman to give aid to the person to the rear of the MCT.” The first medic to the scene later told investigators Holmes had suffered massive traumatic injuries. As the corpsmen began CPR, the unidentified battalion surgeon rushed to the scene, checked for a pulse and pronounced Holmes dead at 11:23 p.m. The NCIS said it found no evidence of drug or alcohol used related to the incident and said there was no evidence of any criminal activity when it officially closed the investigation in late September.
http://www.chicoer.com/news/ci_24859457/investigators-finally-release-details-chico-marines-death
NCIS RELEASES REPORT ON 2013 DEATH OF MARINE IN TWENTYNINE PALMS
