Marine dies during parachute exercise

OCEANSIDE, Calif., Dec. 6 (UPI) -- The U.S. Marines Corps said a 23-year-old Marine from California's Camp Pendleton died during a parachute training exercise.

The Marines confirmed Saturday that Cpl. Ryan L. Pape of East Grand Forks, Minn., died while taking part in a "low-level static line parachute training jump," The San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

Specifics regarding Thursday's incident were not released, but the Marines said the incident prompted the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion's parachute activities to be temporarily suspended while a safety investigation was being conducted.

Pape had previously been awarded an Iraq Campaign Medal and Combat Action Ribbon.

The Union-Tribune said Pape's brother, Riley, was killed in a motorcycle accident in National City, Calif., in May 2005. Five months after the death of the 22-year-old Marine, Pape enlisted in the Marine Corps.