Clear the Records of Marine Pilots

By now, many people would have given up the fight.

Not Connie Gruber and Trish Brow. Their husbands were killed on April 8, 2000, when the V-22 Osprey they were attempting to land in Marana, Ariz., crashed in a fiery explosion, killing all 19 Marines aboard.

The findings of the Marine Corps crash investigation later cast a shadow over the actions of pilot Lt. Col. John Brow and his co-pilot Maj. Brooks Gruber, and statements from high-level Marine officials at the time contributed to blame being cast at the Marine aviators.

Connie Gruber and Trish Brow have battled to remove the taint from their late husbands' record. Enlisting the tireless assistance of Congressman Walter B. Jones, they have sought to have the Marine Corps' official position clarified, once and for all, to state that the pilots were not at fault in the accident.

More than 11 years after the crash, their efforts continue. Through legislation in Congress and personal pleas to the Marine Corps commandant and the secretary of the Navy, Jones has pressed the case on the widows' behalf. So far, they have failed to receive a satisfactory response.

As indicated earlier this year in an Oct. 5 letter to Jones, Marine Commandant Gen. James F. Amos stands by the "contemporaneous record" of the accident investigation.

Amos has expressed his personal admiration for Brow and Gruber, blaming "outside observers" for mischaracterizing the pilot's actions.

Much has been learned since the initial investigation, however, and Amos now should go a step further. He should give the Brow and Gruber families what they seek and what they deserve. He should issue a definitive statement that would put this question to rest once and for all.

The April 2000 crash occurred during a difficult and sometimes tragic period of the Osprey's development. There were design flaws and many unknowns about how the innovative tilt-rotor aircraft would respond in certain situations. Those Marine aviators involved in the early flights were true pioneers who could not have known about some of the dangers they faced, including the conditions that caused the Marana crash, and therefore cannot and should not be held responsible.

"They introduced this aircraft and because of their life sacrifices, the Osprey of today is safe for the pilot, the crew and their passengers," Connie Gruber, who lives in Jacksonville, N.C., told The Jacksonville Daily News in July 2009.

The Marine Corps can put an end to the legacy of mischaracterizations. It can clear the names of John Brow and Brooks Gruber for posterity — and for the peace of those who paid the highest price in the service of their nation. It should do so without further delay.

REPRINTED FROM THE JACKSONVILLE (NC) DAILY NEWS

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