The death of PFC Evan Bath-Infantryman-and 8 other Marines and 1 Sailor-Camp Pendleton

Since he was a little boy, Evan Bath knew he wanted to be a Marine. Sadly, that dream was only realized for one year.

On July 30, 2020, Evan was one of eight Marines. A sailor from the Battalion Landing Team 1/4 of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit who drowned as their assault amphibious vehicle sunk near California's San Clemente Island coast during a training exercise ahead of deployment.

The Marine Corps released its investigation into the training accident that led to their deaths. The 1,743-page report cites numerous failures, from maintenance to leadership to not following policies and procedures.The losses started months before their deaths.

The investigation determined the 34-year-old vehicle that the troops used had several maintenance problems. As a result, when the vehicles were given to the platoon as the unit was assigned to the 15th MEU, most of them were “in horrible condition,” not fit for operations, and needed repair.

We talked to his mother, Aleta Bath- One of Aleta's most essential questions was why procedures were not being followed and why there was such a rush to do a waterborne exercise for which the troops were not properly trained. She tells us about the lack of proper accountability and how the USMC tried to pin it on the lowest ranking man.