BRADENTON – The mother of a fallen Bradenton soldier speaks out, after a legislative bill aiming to reduce military training accidents becomes law.
“It’s somber, it’s bittersweet, I can’t say that we’re happy, because it took my sons life,” said Mother of Army Spc. Nicholas Panipinto, Kimberly Weaver.
Army Specialist Nicholas Panipinto was only 20 years old when he died in a vehicle training accident in South Korea in November 2019.
“In our case it took two hours to get him medical care,” said Weaver.
That delay and a lack of emergency services on base were cited in his death. Since the tragic accident, Congressman Vern Buchanan has worked closely with the family to push for military reform.
In a statement, Buchanan said “The death of Specialist Panipinto is an tragedy that never should have happened,” Buchanan said. “I know how much these reforms mean to Nick’s family and I sincerely hope that this new law will ensure that no other family has to endure similar heartache.”
The new law requires the Department of Defense to examine emergency response services available at U.S. military bases around the world, and to report to Congress on the potential benefits of requiring bases to have medical helicopters and fully stocked ambulances.
“I just don’t want this for any other family, if it can be prevented and it can, it wasn’t an accident because there were so many things that went wrong and each one of those things could save so many lives,” said Weaver.
Deaths during training exercises have risen dramatically in recent years. In 2017 alone, nearly four times as many service members died in training accidents than were killed in action.
“We want to follow through, and make sure that everything is completed and if that takes till I’m 90 years old, that is what I’m going to keep doing,” said Weaver.
