BEAUFORT COUNTY, S.C. — Authorities are investigating the death of a 19-year-old Marine Corps recruit during a strenuous exercise that caps a 13-week training course at South Carolina’s Parris Island.
Installation officials say Pvt. 1st Class Dalton Beals died Friday during an exercise known as “The Crucible,” the final test of recruit training. The base confirmed his death in a Facebook post.
"Our deepest condolences go out to Dalton’s family and to the Marines and staff of Echo Company," Marine Corps Recruit Depot said in a statement. "The cause of death is currently under investigation."
Beals graduated in 2020 from Pennsville Memorial High School in Pennsville, New Jersey. Several days before Beals began The Crucible, his mother posted on Facebook about the grueling, 54-hour exercise.
"The Crucible" is a 54-hour training exercise that tests Marine recruit's physical and mental strengths. The exercise includes a 9-mile hike from the training grounds to the Iwo Jima statue at the Peatross Parade Deck.
The U.S. Marines said throughout the event "recruits are only allowed a limited amount of food and sleep."
Once the challenge is completed, the recruits receive their Eagle, Globe and Anchors which symbolizes the completion of their journey of becoming U.S. Marines.
A GoFundMe set up to help Beals’ family with funeral expenses noted that he had been set to graduate from training on June 18.
"His amazing mother described him as 'the most sincere, kindhearted, sweet and amazing young man,'" said the GoFundMe, which raised more than $31,000 as of Wednesday morning.
There have been a number of recruit deaths through the years at Parris Island, which has been training Marines since 1915 on the island off South Carolina’s coast.
In 2018, a judge dismissed a lawsuit from the family of Raheel Siddiqui, a 20-year-old recruit from Michigan who killed himself in 2016 after a confrontation with a Parris Island drill instructor.
Siddiqui's family disputed his suicide, saying he was targeted because of his Islamic faith. Several Marines were ultimately convicted for abuse, following evidence that drill instructors beat, choked and kicked recruits.