Former Royal Marine recounts his time on Exercise Purple Star and the tragedy that unfolded

On May 10, 1996, during Exercise Purple Star – a large-scale joint UK–US military exercise – two helicopters collided over Camp Lejeune, resulting in the deaths of 14 American soldiers.

Despite the scale and tactical value of the exercise, which involved 380,000 US and 15,000 UK personnel – marking the largest deployment since the First Gulf War at the time – it was ultimately overshadowed by the tragedy that unfolded. 

BFBS Forces News archive researcher Richard White, who spent 25 years in the Royal Marines, was deployed on Exercise Purple Star.

• Remembering Purple Star 1996: A major UK-US exercise with a lasting human cost
• Checkered Flag gives aircrew rare chance to launch live missiles at manoeuvring targets
• USS Gerald R Ford breaks record for longest US aircraft carrier deployment since Vietnam War

In the video above, Richard reflects on his experiences during the exercise, using archive footage he filmed while serving with Air Defence Troop.

He also recalls the invaluable training gained during the deployment, despite the terrible loss suffered by the fallen American personnel and their families.