For years, deceased Marine pilots Maj. Brooks Gruber and Lt. Col. John Brow were blamed for the fatal crash of a V-22 Osprey and the death of 17 other Marines. Despite evidence that the V-22 crash was caused by technical malfunctions instead of risky piloting, Gruber and Brow’s memories have been haunted by this tragedy–until now.

In a surprising reversal, the Pentagon officially recognized that the fault for the deadly accident had been misplaced. Gruber and Brow’s names are finally cleared.

“The totality of evidence confirms the adage that every accident is the result of an interrelated chain of events …. After considering all of the links in the chain that led to this particular accident, I disagree with the characterization that the pilots’ drive to accomplish the mission was ‘the fatal factor’ in the crash,” Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work wrote.

On April 8, 2000, a V-22 Osprey undergoing testing crashed and exploded at a small airport in Arizona. Four passengers and 15 bystanders were killed in the incident. All were Marines.

In the aftermath of the crash, reports suggested that co-pilots Gruber and Brows were the ‘fatal factor’ that caused the accident. This was because the Osprey program was still in development, and the military didn’t want this tragedy to impede its progress.

But other V-22s started suffering malfunctions after the V-22 crash. As the military fixed errors in its safety programs and controls, it became clear that the 2000 accident wasn’t just due to human error. However, the Pentagon never exonerated Gruber and Brows.

The fight to clear their names actually began in 2002 when military widow Connie Gruber contacted her congressman, Rep. Walter Jones.

For 14 years, Jones has lobbied Congress to clear Gruber and Brows’ names and right this wrong. In total, Jones delivered 150 speeches on the House floor decrying the error. He told Stars and Stripes that he will make one last speech on the subject to celebrate this victory.

“I’ll again tell the story about these two men. … They are no longer seen as the primary reason for the accident,” Jones said.