Cpl. Joseph Lahann, left, and Lance Cpl. Isaac Sanchez, cyber analysts with 3rd Network Battalion, describe a recent vehicle collision during an interview at Camp Foster, Okinawa, on March 12, 2026. (Brian McElhiney/Stars and Stripes)
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — Two Marines out for an evening run last month provided aid to a Japanese woman who suffered chest trauma in a car accident on a busy thoroughfare in central Okinawa.
Cpl. Joseph Lahann, of Kansas City, Mo., and Lance Cpl. Isaac Sanchez, of El Paso, Texas, were running southbound along Camp Foster’s perimeter around 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 16 when they heard two vehicles colliding in the northbound lane of Route 58.
The pair said their Marine training kept them focused as they sprang into action.
“You do what’s right because it’s right and that’s the only reason you should be,” Sanchez told Stars and Stripes on Thursday at 3rd Network Battalion headquarters. He and Lahann are both cyber analysts with the battalion.
“It’s one of our core values in honor,” Sanchez added. “We do the right thing the right way for the right reasons. All three of those matter.”
The crash happened behind the Marines. When they looked back, they saw damaged pink and black kei cars blocking an intersection in front of a car dealership.
One of the vehicles had attempted a right turn while traveling south on Route 58 and collided with the other in the northbound lane, an Okinawa city police spokesman said by phone Thursday. Both drivers suffered minor injuries.
As Lahann called the off-base emergency number, Sanchez assisted the woman, who was driving the pink car and spoke some English. Sanchez saw no bleeding, but the woman complained of chest pain and had abrasions on her forearms.
He said he helped her lie down away from the curb and asked her name and if she knew where she was to keep her awake.
A man in his early 30s was driving the black car and did not appear injured. Sanchez tried to get him to sit on the curb, but he would not stay still.
The police spokesman declined to say who was driving which car and could not confirm the Marines’ involvement. Some Japanese government officials speak to the press only on condition of anonymity.
Police and emergency services arrived about 15 minutes later. In the interim, Lahann and Sanchez directed other drivers who had stopped to help watch over the man and woman.
“When EMS got there, it felt like I had been there for an entire day,” Sanchez said.
Both Marines will be “officially recognized in some form” by their battalion, III Marine Expeditionary Force spokesman 1st Lt. Jordan Holland said by email Thursday.
Sanchez and Lahann “demonstrated the initiative and character we value in every Marine here in 3d Network Battalion,” battalion commander Lt. Col. Daniel Chamberlin said in a statement relayed in Holland’s email. “… Their actions serve as a powerful example of how our Marines contribute to the Marine Corps and the local community, both on and off duty.”
Stars and Stripes reporter Hana Kusumoto contributed to this report.
