Two widows take on the military in their on-going mission to clear their husbands’ names. Seventeen years after a failed test-flight killed 19 marines, the pilots’ loved ones will go to any length to find out what happened.

The search for the truth brought Connie Gruber and Trish Brow to Washington D.C., Tuesday. After several military branches denied their latest request for information, the women are now demanding answers through a lawsuit.

At the time of the crash in April 2000, the Marine Corps placed the blame on the pilots: Maj. Brooks Gruber and Lt. Col. John Brow. Tuesday, Brow’s widow – Trish -- said she would rather not have to continue this fight to clear her husband’s name.

“I would like to not be here to not continue this fight, when it comes with a personal price, emotionally, for all of us,” she said, “[but] it’s basic government, the Marine Corps should be held accountable.”

The Marine Corps’ explanation never made sense to the pilots’ widows. Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) questions it as well. “The word truth matters,” he said when discussing why he’s put so much into the effort to uncover what happened 17 years ago.

Reached Tuesday, Spokespeople for the Marine Corps said they could not discuss the lawsuit or the cause of the crash with the lawsuit pending.

Jones said the Marine Corps’ response reflected an attempt to save its issue-plagued aircraft of the future – a half-plane, half-helicopter known as the V-22 Osprey. “The marine corps had had a lot of problems with this Osprey,” he said, “and this crash seemed to be the end so to speak.”

The Deputy Defense Secretary wrote a letter absolving the pilots in 2016. The Marine Corps has not followed suit.

Frustrated, the widows and Congressman asked for every military document related to the crash and its investigation.

Maj. Brooks Gruber’s widow said she’s a proud military supporter, but the full story needs to be told. “We ask that for our children. We ask that for grandchildren that these men, these pilots will never know,” she said, “we also ask it for the history of Marine Corps aviation.”

The trio received just one page – almost entirely blacked out from their Freedom of Information Act request. That is what ultimately led to the suit.

If it’s successful, two widows and a congressman may finally get the answers they’ve been seeking for years.