Richlands,VI : Marine from Richland dies in military crash in Mississippi on Monday, July 10, 2017

A Richland man was among the 15 Marines and a Navy sailor who died Monday in the crash of a military transport plane in the Mississippi Delta, according to Tri-City friends of his family.

Dietrich Schmieman, a U.S. Marine, graduated from Hanford High School in Richland in 2009. He is the son of Eric and Susan Schmieman of Richland.

He was part of an elite Marine Raider battalion at Camp Lejeune, N.C., and was headed for pre-deployment training in Yuma, Ariz., before likely being sent somewhere in the Middle East.

Through middle school and high school, Schmieman attended Richland Lutheran Church.

“When he told us he was going into the Marines, it was ‘Yes, he’s going to be a great Marine,’ ” said the Rev. Corey Smith, the associate pastor. “He just had the drive and attitude.”

Smith, who was his youth pastor from sixth grade through high school, said Schmieman’s character remained unchanged through those years. He was very respectful and kind, both to adults and kids.

He also had a lot of energy and a sense of humor.

“He always seemed to have a big smile on his face,” Smith said. “We’re just shocked and deeply saddened. The world lost a good one.”

Michael Carosino first met Schmieman in the third grade. Their families lived in the same neighborhood and the two spent a lot of time at each other’s houses. He described his friend as a “really fun, caring guy.”

“He was friends with everybody,” Carosino said. “He was always ready to go at it, whatever we were doing, just hype everyone up.”

Carosino had heard about the plane crash, but didn’t know about Schmieman until mutual friends told him Tuesday.

“It’s just really hard to deal with,” he said. “It’s such a random thing. Yesterday was a pretty difficult day.”

The group of friends from the neighborhood has turned to a group chat to help them cope with their grief.

“We’ve all kind of been able to share some memories and pictures and stuff, trying to deal with it that way,” Carosino said.

Carosino works in Los Angeles, but said a couple of Schmieman’s friends were able to spend the day Tuesday with the family.

“They’re great people, and I’ve just been crushed with how they have to deal with this,” he said.

Another friend, Ashton Davis, said he’d known Schmieman for more than a decade.

“He was always the person who would turn any situation into a fun one,” Davis said. “We did anything competitive, from video games to pool or ping pong.”

Davis recalled a trip the two took to Europe, during which they became stranded in Italy after they lost their train tickets.

“He somehow turned a 24-hour period of being stranded in a foreign place to a fun adventure we would never forget,” he said. “We reminisce about our Europe trip at least a couple times a year. I am forever grateful for that trip of a lifetime.”

Einan’s at Sunset is handling arrangements for a local service.

The cause of the Monday crash of the KC-130 into soybean fields remains under investigation.

Source :
Marine from Richland dies in military plane crash in Mississippi