CAMP PENDLETON — Military authorities today publicly identified a 24-year-old U.S. Marine killed this week in a Camp Pendleton training accident.
1st Lt. Hugh C. McDowell, a platoon commander assigned to 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, was fatally injured about 9 a.m. Thursday when an armored vehicle overturned at the northern San Diego County USMC station.
Six other Marines suffered minor injuries in the crash.
McDowell, a native of Washington, D.C., accepted his commission as a Marine Corps officer in May 2017.
His awards include a National Defense Service Medal and a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.
The cause of the accident remains under investigation, said 1st Lt. Cameron Edinburgh, media officer for the 1st Marine Division.
“We recognize that military operations are inherently dangerous, and we take extreme precautions to ensure the safety and welfare of our Marines,” Edinburgh said. “This is a tragic accident, and we are heartbroken at the loss of a member of our Marine Corps family. We will do all we can to comfort the family, friends and colleagues of Lt. McDowell.”
McDowell, who went by Conor, was on the verge of proposing to his girlfriend Kathleen, his family told FOX 5 in Washington, D.C.
