LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) --Â Lance Cpl. Olivia Kustes will be laid to rest one day before she was scheduled to return to active duty.
The proud U.S. Marine died in a tragic accident on I-65 in Clarksville when a tire from another vehicle hit her pickup truck.
Her life may have come to a tragic, unexpected end, but her friends and family remember her with pride. No one could be prouder than Staff Sgt. Daine Nelson, the man who recruited her.
"She came in, we sat and talked," he said. "About an hour after she left, she messaged me back and said, 'Yes, this is something I want to do. I want to be a Marine.'"
Kustes was a 17-year-old high school graduate and would soon be enlisted and headed to boot camp on Parris Island.
"She was actually the only female that I have recruited," Nelson said. "Not all of them have made it."
Nelson admitted Kustes wanted to quit.
"They put her on the phone with me, and she was like, 'I'm going to quit. I'm going to come home,'" he recalled. "And I was like, 'No you're not! You need to stick it out. It will be worth it in the end.'"
But that wasn't the last Nelson heard of Kustes. After surviving 12 weeks of boot camp, she reached out to him again.
"She just thanked me," he said. "'Thank you for motivating me and, like, talking me into staying, because I earned the title Marine, and I am so proud of myself.'"
With her dog Russ and horse Buddy, Kustes was stationed in Cherry Point, North Carolina, but home on emergency leave after the death of her grandmother. And she never stopped serving, recruiting or being a Marine.
"She was excited to start working start recruiting for us," Staff Sgt. Thomas Reed said.
They have lost a sister, but will never forget her service and commitment.
"I was in shock," Nelson said of her death. "It was hard to believe.
"I was very proud of her. I was proud that she stuck it out after wanting to quit."
Kustes will be laid to rest Tuesday.
For information on her funeral arrangements, CLICK HERE.
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