TWO STORIES ABOUT THE DEATH OF SGT NUNEZ FROM MARINES WHO WERE PRESENT.
COPIED FIRST FROM USMCWEAPONS.COM, LATER FROM LEATHERNECK.COM
1. POSTED 10/23/2003
The sea-Story
We were on the M203 range at Camp Pendleton, Ca in the summer of 1986. It was a normal day; hot, dry and full of stress and excitement. Reveille was at 0530, so around 0600 we headed over to the chow and returned to the barracks to gather our gear, forming back up at 0700 to march to the range. The march to the range was your typical Marine Corps walk-at-a-break-neck-speed-march, leaving the softhearted and broken Marines in the rear, eating dust and suffering the humiliation of the troop handlers as they yelled at the Marines for falling behind and who also provided occasional nudges of encouragement to catch up.
Once we arrived at the range we were provided more instruction on how to handle the weapon on the range, how to load and aim it, as well as a healthy demonstration, which provided us with even more motivation. We were all excited about firing the M203, boasting to each other about who would hit the targets and who would miss.
I had not yet fired my rounds on that day, nor would I have the chance. I was waiting in line, three Marines behind my bunk-mate, eagerly watching those in front of us fire so I could learn from their mistakes before I got on the firing line.
My bunk-mates turn finally came and he moved up in line to fire his first rounds from the M203. Sgt. Nunez, one of our troop handlers, was giving commands at our position. We liked Sgt. Nunez. He was hard, as were all of the instructors, but he was friendly too, talking to us like we were real Marines and not just the boots we were. My bunk-mate followed the direction given to him by Sgt. Nunez. He was given the command to kneel, and he did so. He was given the command to open the breach, and he did so. He was given a grenade by Sgt. Nunez and was instructed to place it in the breach for loading, and he did so. He was told to close the breach, and he did so. Upon closing the breach, the grenade exploded.
The noise and concussion of the grenade exploding was thunderous and immediate. Sgt. Nunez was mortally wounded in the head, falling to the ground, while my bunk-mate attempted to stand up. It was then he realized his arm was missing.
It took three Marines to hold down my bunk-mate so that the corpsman could put a tourniquet on his elbow, above his missing arm. There were other Marines with shrapnel in their arms and legs, where the body armor had not provided protection, but none were seriously injured and the corpsmen on the range were able to tend to them.
The troop handlers yelled at us to turn around and face the tree line, but many of us kept watching until the Life Flight arrived taking both Sgt. Nunez and my bunk-mate away. The march back to the barracks was much slower, with a heavy silence, except the occasional caught from the dust. When we returned to the barracks, we wrote statements on what we saw and heard and turned them in for review. The next day was almost back to normal, except the obvious absence of Sgt. Nunez and the occasional Marine pulled into the senior instructors' office for questioning or counseling. Finally, that afternoon, a formation was held and the announcement was made that Sgt. Nunez was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.
Later that week I visited my bunk-mate in the hospital. He was upbeat, but, was definitely on his way out of the Corps. He told me he would be heading to college on the Marine Corps tab, once he was able to get out of the hospital. Our visit was short and I lost track of him after that. I am not sure how it worked out for him, but I hope he was able to move on successfully.
There was an investigation into the accident. Until that investigation was complete no HEDP (High Explosive, Dual Purpose) 40 MM grenades were fired in the Marine Corps. I was never made aware of the official explanation of why the grenade went off, however, with most of the weapon system destroyed, and the round expended, it must have been difficult to determine an exact cause.
I will always remember Sgt Fred Nunez.
Sgt Sostand
2. POSTED 4/10/2018
Thanks for posting this, Sgt Sostand. I, too, was there at the M203 range with you and the rest of our School Of Infantry company that day. It would appear that your memory is better than mine. However, there were a few details you left out that I would like to add. Sgt Nunez was our platoon Sergeant and, although I was only in the Marine Corps for a few months at the time, Sgt Nunez turned out to be the best Sergeant I ever served with. He was tough, as you mentioned, but respected and admired by his platoon and his peers as well. I am writing this letter in 2018, and it is a testament to how the man and event effected us all. Finally, after suffering all these years, I decided to research the event and found your description of the events.
It's been bothering me for years and I am sure I am not the only one.
The young Marine who was in the explosion with Sgt Nunez was in my squad. At the the time, I was the squad leader. I disagree with the assumptions that I later heard when I was with 1/7 (First Battalion Seventh Marines), which blamed the explosion on the grenades themselves (M203 rounds). My take on the accident, and I was standing directly behind your bunk mate, was that the M203 rounds were primed (spun) before they were fired. By that I mean that the very charming and hilariously funny kid kept DROPPING his grenades MULTIPLE times, priming them before he attempted to launch the grenades. His dropping of the grenades made me so uncomfortable that I switched lines to get away from him after warning him multiple times and being ignored. I did not know that the investigators talked to anyone. If they had, I would have relayed this information to them. As it turned out, I fired all of my rounds and was just walking off the berm when the explosion happened. I do remember the young Marine getting up and running away, then being tackled by the Range Safety Officer, who had to hold him down (others may have helped).
Two things here you did not mention. The real cause of this tragedy is that the M16A2s with grenade launchers were released to us that day. You see, the grenade launchers breach WOULD NOT LOCK DOWN. The Marines in training, including the kid in my squad, attempted to lock the breach with the grenade inside by slamming the breach closed REPEATEDLY. I did this as well, until I learned to simply hold the breach closed while pulling the launcher's trigger. This brings my to my second point, which is that the Range Safety Officer, while a hero for acting without hesitation, should have called off the live fire because easily 50% of the M203 launchers were defective and would not lock down as required. (I know: 20-20 hindsight).
Sgt Nunez did not die immediately. We could here the groans even after the other NCOs hurried us down an embankment to keep us from seeing the aftermath of this tragedy.
I don't know if you remember, but the medevac helicopter became lost. They finally found our LZ with the help of a Marine UH1N Huey. By then (about 1 to 1-1/2 hours later), the groaning had stopped. It may have been that Sgt Nunez may have never survived his injuries, but I remember being very angry at the time that the medevac was not immediate. I will never forget the funeral on Camp Pendleton, at the chapel, seeing Ms Nunez sitting with her two boys (one of whom would later be killed in Iraq). I never paid my respects in person, and for this I am truly sorry. This event was one of the major events in my life and the first time I had seen anyone killed. It will always stay with me. Thank you for putting your account here for all to see. I truly hope anyone else suffering from this event can post here as well and find some peace.
Cpl David Henderson