A midshipman from Texas died after falling over a waterfall in Chile, the U.S. Naval Academy announced Monday.
Midshipman 2nd Class Luke Gabriel Bird of New Braunfels, Texas, was participating in a semester abroad program at Chile’s Arturo Prat Naval Academy. The 21-year-old junior was hiking with a student from the school Saturday near the Salto El Agua waterfall in Placilla, in the Valparaíso region, when he reportedly lost his balance and fell over the waterfall. Chilean authorities found Luke Bird’s body in the waterfall’s lagoon.
Bird attended New Braunfels High School, where he was captain of the wrestling team in his junior and senior years and was active in student government, the academy said. At the Naval Academy, Bird was a member of the 20th and 2nd Companies and an ocean engineering major. He was a member of the Semper Fi Society and competed with company mates as an intramural sports athlete. Bird was authorized to wear the National Defense Service Medal and had earned the Marksman Rifle Qualification Badge and Sharpshooter Pistol Qualification Badge, the academy said.
Midshipman 1st Class Travis Delgado, a friend, and fellow Texan said Bird was an unfathomably smart young man. “He greatly exemplified the hard-working midshipman who helps anyone at the drop of a hat,” Delgado said. “He was a great man and will be dearly missed by all those in 20th Company and throughout the brigade.”
