A 21-year-old Marine recruit from a South Carolina military base died last week during a physical fitness test for boot camp training.
Private First Class Noah Evans died April 18 aboard Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, an 8,095-acre military base.
It is unclear how the soldier died and what activity he had previously participated in. Officials also didn’t say if Evans had any medical conditions.
His death is currently under investigation, USMC officials said in a news release.
Evans, a native of Decatur, Georgia, was assigned to Mike Company, a third recruit training battalion.
His death is the fourth at the base in the past two years and the tenth since 2000.
The Marines issued a statement expressing their “deepest condolences” to Noah’s family and the Marines and staff at Mike Co.
21-year-old Private First Class Noah Evans died April 18 while conducting a physical fitness test aboard Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, an 8,095-acre military base
Young Marines on Parris Island, South Carolina
Evans’ aunt wrote on Facebook about her late nephew that his “personality could set a room on fire”.
“I still want to believe this is a dream. I looked at all the posts and said it just can’t be.”
A life celebration for the young soldier will be held throughout the week with visits to the family home in Ellenwood, Georgia.
There will be a viewing and wake at the Gregory B. Levett & Sons funeral home on Friday, followed by burial on Sunday at First Iconium Baptist Church and burial at Kennedy Memorial Gardens.
His death comes two years after nineteen-year-old Private First Class Dalton Beals of Pennsville, New Jersey, died of hyperthermia in June 2021, according to multiple reports.
Beals was part of Echo Company, Platoon 2040, based on Parris Island.
The young soldier completed the final challenge for recruits known as The Crucible, the final leg of a rigorous 54-hour training that tests physical strength, ability and Marine Corps values on Parris Island, Navy officials said at the time.
According to the Beaufort Gazette, the exercise involves a 48-mile journey over 54 hours using 45 pounds of equipment, 36 stations, and problem-solving exercises with four to six hours of sleep and limited food.
The Crucible ends with a nine-mile hike that leaves recruits with “a limited amount of food and sleep,” according to its website.
On the day Beals died, the temperature at the base was in the 90s, the Gazette said.
Two Marine recruits participate in a rock climbing activity during boot camp at Marine Corp Recruit Depot on Parris Island, South Carolina, in this undated photo
Seven Marine recruits are pictured climbing ropes during boot camp training at Marine Corp Recruit Depot on Parris Island, South Carolina, in this undated photo
US Marine Corp recruits at a graduation ceremony on Parris Island, South Carolina
According to the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette investigative report, there are policies in place that require young recruits to change uniforms and gear as temperatures rise.
Beal’s Drill Instructor, Staff Sgt. Allegedly, Steven Smiley just stepped up the training instead.
The report claimed that Beals’ colleagues described being discouraged from seeking medical attention and were mocked when they did so.
Smiley was later charged with involuntary manslaughter for the death of Beals in November 2022.
On September 29, 2021, 26-year-old Brandon Barnish of Evans, Georgia was found dead at the training depot, according to the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
That same month, another recruit, 21-year-old Soldier Anthony Muñoz of Lawrence, Massachusetts, died after falling from a balcony in an alleged suicide, officials at MCRD Parris Island previously told the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.