“He was a very good kid and never disrespected anybody,” John Santos said.
Charito and David Mundo Santos of Rota are the parents of Cpl. Santos.
Rep. Teresita A. Santos, Ind.-Rota, said the incident in Afghanistan that claimed the life of her nephew “is so hard to internalize.”
She said even though CNMI servicemembers are deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq, “we don’t expect them to die.”
She added, “I would like our soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq to know that we always remember them in our prayers.”
She said it was her nephew’s second deployment to Afghanistan.
The first one was in 2008. Cpl. Sntos came home last year and was deployed again last month.
Stabbing incident
The CNMI Military Affairs and Veterans Office is hoping that the U.S. Marine Corps will get to the bottom of the stabbing incident that led to the death of Cpl. Santos in Afghanistan on Friday.
Military and Veterans Office executive director Ruth Coleman said the incident was very tragic.
“We are very sad and we extend our condolences to the family of U.S. Marine Cpl. Dave Michael Santos for losing their son while on deployment,” Coleman said.
She said he Marine Corps is now investigating the incident.
“I hope the Marine Corps can come up with the results of their investigation as soon as possible so that justice can be served. It is a tragic incident for a soldier to die so young especially while fighting for the nation,” Coleman added.
“The family confirmed that their son was stabbed by a fellow Marine as relayed to them by the U.S. military,” she added.
The remains of the young Marine will be flown to Rota sometime next week.
Cpl. Santos is survived by his parents, his wife, a three-year-old son, two sisters and one brother.
