RANCHO BERNARDO -- A Marine and a sailor killed Wednesday night in a military vehicle accident on Interstate 15 were identified Thursday by Marine officials, and remembered by friends.

They were: Navy corpsman Petty Officer 3rd Class David Sotelo, 22, a native of Murrieta, and Lance Cpl. Christopher Best, 20, a native of Springfield, Mo. and a light armored vehicle crewman.

Both were assigned to the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms as part of the 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, said Marine 2nd Lt. Joseph King.

"We're greatly saddened by this," King said. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to their families. We all feel the grief."

Jaime Carranza, of Escondido, who was friends with Sotelo, said Sotelo's friends were shocked by the death of the Navy combat medic who was attached to a Marine unit.

"It's pretty shocking really," Carranza said Thursday. "I was just reading one of his blogs, and he's had four near-death experiences (while serving in Iraq). He would tell us just astonishing stories and for him to die in the U.S. (in an accident,) it's shocking."

Sotelo lived in San Diego and Oceanside before moving to Murrieta where his parents and sister live, Carranza said.

Friend Justen Charles of Arkansas said Sotelo served one tour in Iraq. He said his friend would stop to help even wounded enemies in the middle of a firefight.

"He was always putting other people before him," Charles said.

The vehicles were part of a small convoy Wednesday heading to Miramar Marine Corps Air Station for a routine training exercise, King said. They were going south on I-15 when the driver towing the second vehicle lost control at 7:20 p.m. just south of West Bernardo Drive, California Highway Patrol Officer Mark Gregg said.

Best and Sotelo were both thrown 70 feet off the Green Valley Bridge during the collision and died from their injuries. They were riding in the back of the lead light armored vehicle. The vehicle they were in collided with a guard rail and rolled onto its side, hanging partially over the bridge, Gregg said. Sotelo and Best were ejected through a roof hatch that may have been left open, he said.

The two servicemen fell onto a construction site below. One man was dead as firefighters arrived. The second was still alive and was to be flown to a trauma hospital, but he died before the helicopter arrived, San Diego Fire and Life Safety spokesman Maurice Luque said.

Two other Marines were injured, the driver and a passenger, and were taken to Pomerado Hospital where they were treated for their injuries and released, King said. Both were back with their unit Thursday. King said he could not release the extent of their injuries.

The 1st Marine Division has served at least two tours in Iraq but not all the members have deployed overseas, he said. The division was scheduled to depart in the near future, King said.

Carranza said Sotelo wrote on his blog about his experiences in Iraq and about nearly getting run down by a sport utility vehicle his first week there when the driver tried to blow past a roadblock. Later, Sotelo wrote of having his light armored vehicle get hit by some kind of explosive and catch fire, causing a burn injury to his hand.

As a medic Sotelo saved many lives, including a Marine, who later became one of his best friends, Carranza said.

Charles said Sotelo planned to go to Navy SEAL school to fullfill a lifelong dream.

In his personal life, Carranza said Sotelo "was completely charismatic, real open, real friendly (to) just anyone from the street. It might be a bum and he would just go up and talk to him and start hitting it off."

He said Sotelo was fun to be around, and he kept people around him laughing.

"He's one of those guys that, he's more than a brother to you," Charles said.

Contact staff writer Yvette Urrea at (760) 901-4076 or yurrea@nctimes.com. To comment on this story, visit our Web site at www.nctimes.com.