"Why is my son gone?": Families of service members call for action a year after fatal training accident By David Martin Marine families call for change after fatal accident One year after nine U.S. service members drowned in a training accident, families of the fallen are taking steps to make sure it never happens again. Nearly a dozen Marines, including a general, have been disciplined in the July 30 accident. Cell phone videos of the Marines crammed into an amphibious assault vehicle only last for seconds. They had no way of knowing that within hours, nine would die — drowned when their vehicle sank off the coast of California.