LCpl. Jeremy M. Lindroth, U.S.M.C. (KIA)

Local Marine dies in jet crash

A 23-year-old Ione man serving in the U.S. Marine Corps was recently killed in a training exercise.

Lance Cpl. Jeremy M. Lindroth died March 10 when the Marine jet carrying him and three other people crashed as it approached the Miramar Marine Corps Air Station, near San Diego, officials said. The plane burst into flames when it hit the ground at approximately 8:45 p.m.

Lindroth was born in North Dakota in 1980 and graduated from Argonaut High School in 1999. After attending college for one year he enlisted in the Marine Corps in July 2001. He was a qualified crew chief for the C-12 aircraft and was in training to be crew chief for the UC-35, the same plane he was flying in when he was killed.

Marine Corps officials called the flight a routine training mission. According to reports, the plane was being landed using instruments only. Weather observations taken from the base near the time of the accident reported 5-mile visibility with light fog or haze.

There were no distress calls from the pilots of the jet. The Marine Corps, the National Transportation Safety Board and aircraft maker Cessna will be investigating the accident.

Lindroth and the other three Marines killed in the crash - Lt. Col. Peter T. Nicholson, 44, the pilot; Lt. Col. Robert Zeisler, 46, the co-pilot; and Gunnery Sgt. Francisco I. Cortez, 42 - were honored March 15 at a memorial service held at the base. According to the Miramar Web site, fellow Marines, family members and friends gathered at the base’s memorial chapel to mourn the loss of the Marines and pay tribute to their years of service. Individual eulogies were read for each Marine.

Lance Cpl. Brooks A. McAllister, airfreight clerk, H&HS, described his friendship with Lindroth and the proud, passionate Marine he was.

“He always motivated his friends to do more, and he did more himself by working two part-time jobs in addition to being a Marine,” McAllister said. “We joked about him being a California cowboy, but he drove a Toyota with a surfboard. He had no enemies and always made you laugh. He was the type of Marine you always want to have by your side.”

Similar sentiments were expressed by Martha Smith, who knew Lindroth since he was in elementary school.

“He was so hardworking, friendly and helpful,” she said Monday afternoon. “We were all so proud of him because he was doing so well. Everyone who knew him liked him.”

The feeling that Lindroth would be missed by everyone who knew him was one that was echoed by his friend Nick Blackburn. Blackburn and Lindroth were friends since freshman year at Argonaut and lived together for nearly two years.

“Jeremy was one of those people who would go out of his way to help anyone,” Blackburn said. He was the kind of friend you could always count on to be there for you.”

Blackburn recalled the time when one of their mutual friends was participating in a rodeo in Redding. “Jeremy flew up from Miramar to Sacramento then drove to Redding to see him ride the bull,” he said. “Then he went back to Miramar the next day. That’s the kind of friend he was.

“He will be missed by all of his friends for all of the things he did. He was just a lot of fun; a great guy.”

Lindroth is survived by his mother, Tin; father, Joel; brothers Michael, Matthew and Jacob; and sister Chelsea. Funeral services were held earlier this week in Ione.

Lindroth is slated to be buried on his family’s property in Minnesota.