Deadly 1996 training collision commemorated still

A 1996 collision of a CH-46 Sea Knight and an AH-1 Cobra attack helicopter during a large training exercise killed 14 service members and critically injured two others. 

Marines of the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division commemorated the 1996 Exercise Purple Star on May 5. 

"Today as we memorialize these fine men who perished over two decades ago, let us honor them by rededicating ourselves to the very principles by which they served," said Maj. Gen. John K. Love, commanding general of 2nd Marine Division in a news release. 

The 21st annual Purple Star Memorial Ceremony took place at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

"Today, tomorrow and as long as we endure as a battalion, the Marines and sailors of 'America’s Battalion' will gladly and without hesitation take those three long strides up the ramp," said commanding officer Lt. Col. Daniel J. Gaskell during the ceremony. 

The 1996 combined task force exercise allied the forces of the United States and the United Kingdom in a war game exercise that spanned across five states and involved 53,000 troops, 38,000 of which were United States service members.