The driver has been identified as 24-year-old Sean Leonguerrero of Merced. Friends said he was a fun and loving young man and are devastated by their death.
Twenty-three-year-old fraternal twins Michael and Robert Anderson were passengers in the car. The brothers graduated from Merced High before joining the military.
Their mother, Lorraine Anderson, served 10 years in the U.S. Air Force. She learned of her sons' death Saturday morning.
"My first reaction was why? God why?" Lorraine Anderson said. "What have I done wrong and I had to it through, because it was a shock."
Lorraine is mourning the death of her sons, with her two daughters.
They say Robert was a sergeant in the Marines and had served two tours in Afghanistan. Michael was a specialist in the Army National Guard, he had just returned from a tour in Afghanistan.
"They were brought home in one piece. Their buddies were brought home in one piece, that's a blessing right there," their mother said, "So this accident, you didn't see it coming."
She says Robert had recently moved to Sacramento after he got a job there as a Marine recruiter. He had a wife and two sons, a 5 year old and a newborn.
"Robert shined a lot. Everything he did, he shined," she said.
Michael was living in Atwater. He was getting ready to leave for training in Virginia in January. Gentry So'oalo served with Michael overseas and says the Andersons were deeply devoted to serving their country.
"(Michael) and Robert were really big about, 'we put on the uniform and we have an image to uphold," So'oalo said. "(They were) big patriots, both of them."
He says Michael was visiting Robert in Sacramento over the weekend, but he did not know where they were coming from or where they were headed. He also says the driver, Sean Leonguerrero, was a long-time friend of the Andersons, someone they had known since childhood.
"I can't grasp it," So'oalo said. "This morning, I woke up I sent Michael a text message, 'hey let's go to the gym.'" He says it's out of habit, because he and Michael would see each other and work out often.
Michael and Robert would have turned 24-years-old on Tuesday. Their mother says the family had planned to have Thanksgiving at Robert's Sacramento home. She hadn't seen her sons since the summer and was looking forward to the visit.
"We were supposed to see each other and enjoy one another company," Lorraine Anderson said. "I was going to meet my new grandson."
The family is expected to make funeral arrangements this week.
