BELLEVILLE, Ill. – Fifteen months after her death, a Belleville Marine Corps pilot is still touching people’s lives.

“Everybody said, ‘I was her best friend,’ and that’s how she made you feel. And that’s how ‘El’ was her whole life,” Victoria LeBeau said of her daughter, Ellie.

Captain Ellie LeBeau Cooke was one of three Marines who died when an Osprey crashed in Australia during a training exercise on Aug. 27, 2023, on Melville Island, approximately 50 miles north of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. Twenty of the 23 Marines aboard the craft survived.

Captain Cooke was 29. Corporal Spencer Collart and Major Tobin Lewis were also killed in the crash.

This combination of photos provided by U.S. Marines Corps., shows Marine V-22B Osprey pilot Capt. Eleanor V. LeBeau, center, Cpl. Spencer R. Collart, left, and Maj. Tobin J. Lewis, right. (U.S. Marines Corps via AP)

“They said if any two people could’ve saved those 20, it was them,” Victoria said.

Victoria remembers the day 15 months ago when she came home to family waiting to break the news.

“I looked at his face and I knew she was gone. It sounds so silly, but I relive that day so many times and it’s like a punch every time,” she said.

One of eight children, Ellie LeBeau was known for her smile. She loved horses and danced through high school at Althoff. Service was in her blood. Her dad was a pilot in the Navy, and several of her siblings have served as well. Her husband still currently serves. Ellie chose the United States Marine Corps.

“She studied for a month and a half for the flight test and came home and jumped over the railing and said, ‘I’m going to be a badass pilot,’” Victoria said.

Ellie graduated at the top of her class in flight school. She excelled as a pilot. Victoria LeBeau never worried about her daughter flying right up until the day of the crash.

After a year of waiting, the LeBeaus got together when the Marine Corps released its findings on the crash. The report, released earlier this summer, said the crash was a result of a “series of poor decisions and miscalculations.”

The report noted that the aircraft commander did not take part in mission planning, the weight of the aircraft was 2,000 pounds heavier than planned, and that the lead aircraft’s poorly flown approach likely “oversaturated” Cpt. LeBeau, who was flying in a different aircraft.

Its investigation found several safety issues within the squadron, too, saying the former commanding officer “permitted a culture that disregarded safety of flight procedures.”

It also highlighted concerning maintenance practices. Although those were not blamed for the crash, the report says, “the aircraft should not have been certified as safe-for-flight.”

“Was there fault, yes. Does it matter, no. It doesn’t matter. It won’t bring them back,” Victoria said.

Ellie’s mother said the report brought closure, but she does not have an interest in placing blame.

“She and Maj. Lewis and Cpl. Collart, they’re heroes. 20 people literally walked off of that plane and it wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for their flying,” she said.

She is especially astonished at Cpl. Collart’s bravery. The Marine Corps investigation revealed his efforts to save the pilots, trapped in a burning cockpit.

“He walked out of that plane, 21-year-old kid, and went back in to save them. That was shocking, I think, to all of us,” Victoria said.

She is putting the report behind her and is instead focused on keeping Ellie’s memory alive.

“Ellie’s accident was the most beautiful, awful thing that’s ever happened to our family. There’ve been so many gifts for us that have come out of this and for other people and because we can’t bring her back, that’s what we focus on,” Victoria said.

An aboriginal group on an island in Australia, the Tiwi People, has welcomed the LeBeaus and other Marines into their family after the crash.

“They immediately, that was their family and started doing this year-long process of prayers and taking care of their souls,” Victoria said.

It culminated in a Pukumani ceremony (a term meaning “the end of sorry business”) just a couple of months ago.

“I don’t think any of us could tell you how meaningful it was. Not that we have stopped grieving,” Victoria said. “But it is kind of like putting an end to the mourning part of it and letting them go.”

Capt. Ellie LeBeau Cooke will be remembered forever, even halfway around the world.