Courage, Honor, Integrity

Haditha

Courage; Honor; Integrity: The United States Marine Corps

The Courage, Honor and Integrity of the United States Marine Corps are a living presence, defined and built by all the Marines who came before. It is the privilege and duty of each new generation of Marines to carry this forward.

Haditha Marines need your Help !

Semper Fidelis

Marines MUST be held to high standards;   they must NOT be required to die.

Haditha

Satire in Allegory

4/9/09 Sgt. Ryan Weemer cleared of all Charges in earlier fight

3/30/08 Charges Against Tatum Dropped

2/29/08 Haditha Marine to Testify

12/31/07 Two Marines face court-martial ... but Not Murder

10/03/07 "Drop murder charges against Haditha Marine"

09/19/07 Prosecutors lose once again

• “They started with eight defendants and are down to three. This is certainly not the criminal incident they (originally declared) ...”

09/05/07 - ... Is the prosecution creating a scapegoat?

08/24/07 - More Acquitals ...

07/26/07 - A partial retraction ... well, it's a start

06/14/07 - Haditha Truth Massacred by the Media

06/13/07 - Day of chaotic battle

05/30/07 - Btn CO Lt. Col. Jeffrey R. Chessani charged

Fox: 12/21/06 - Marine Squad Leader to face charges

Gen. Tom McInerney: Haditha Defendants' Rights Violated

• Haditha, The facts of the engagement known at this writing:
  • Haditha, a Sunni insurgent stronghold, is one of a chain of farm towns on the Euphrates River
  • Nov 19, 2005, a roadside bomb struck a Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment supply convoy, killing Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas, 20, of El Paso, who was on his second tour of duty in Iraq.
    • Just one week earlier, these Marines were briefed by an intelligence officer on how a Force Reconnaissance unit had entered a hospital bedroom tentatively, and the insurgents were lying in bed with AK-47s hidden under the blankets.
      • "Seven Recon Marines were killed that day because they didn't go in hard enough, and didn't lead with grenades"
  • Within five minutes of the explosion the Kilo Company Marines came under small-arms fire from the vicinity of two houses.
    • Radio communications verify this firefight.
  • A taxi with five occupants, later identified by Marine S2 Intelligence as known insurgents, drove up into the middle of the ambush kill zone.
    • The Marines shot the suspected insurgents as they left the taxi, while simultaneously closing with the enemy at the ambush location.
  • A squad under the command of Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich entered the two houses, using normal house-clearing procedures.
    • SSGT Wuterich had led his squad through 150 patrols that uncovered weapons caches and roadside bombs, and detained more than 50 suspected insurgents prior to the ambush.
  • As dictated by the Rules of Engagement, a door was opened and a grenade was thrown into the room followed by automatic weapons fire, killing the 15 occupants, all afterwards found to be civilians.
  • Again following the above ROE procedure, two more civilians were killed in the second house.
    • The Marines observed that a rear door was ajar, indicating that someone had fled before they entered.
  • Within minutes a UAV was in the sky above the area. It remained aloft all day, catching views of armed conflict. Some screen-shot photos were downloaded either at battalion or regimental headquarters.
  • Within 30 minutes an intelligence unit was on the scene and the Marines involved were closely questioned.
    • Those in that unit testify that the Kilo Marines' composure and demeanor made it incomprehensible that they could have just participated in a cold-blooded massacre of civilians.
  • By nightfall an after-action PowerPoint presentation including the screen-shot photos downloaded from the UAV was sent up the chain of command.
    • It fully detailed the day's action, based on the constant radio communications, testimony of those present as participants and after-action investigators, and the data revealed minute-by-minute by the UAV.
    • Within days, officers from up the entire chain of command were fully briefed.
      • They concluded that the evidence provided them proved that the actions were fully justified by the circumstances on the ground at the time.
      • Nov. 20, a U.S. Marine spokesman reported: "A U.S. Marine and 15 civilians were killed yesterday from the blast of a roadside bomb in Haditha. Immediately following the bombing, gunmen attacked the convoy with small arms fire. Iraqi army soldiers and Marines returned fire, killing eight insurgents and wounding another.''
  • 2nd Lt. Kallop, the platoon commander, nominated SSGT Wuterich for the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with combat "V:.
    • Battalion approved the award and submitted it to 1st MarDiv.
    • The award was withheld after Pentagon leaks presented the Haditha action unfavorably, without documentation or background on insurgent tactics commonly used against these Marines.

• Haditha, Vanity Fair version

• Subsequent developments to this date:
  • A videotape, given to Time Magazine in January by the Hammurabi Human Rights Group, purports to show the aftermath of a massacre in Haditha.
  • March 2006, Time Magazine reported "the video shows men, women and children who have been shot to death, some in their nightclothes, as well as walls and ceilings marked with blood, shrapnel and bullet holes."
    • Time Magazine reported the Hammurabi tape was shot by a "journalism student" the day after the incident and described Hammurabi as working with "the internationally respected Human Rights Watch."
      • Time Magazine subsequently issued a correction, writing that Human Rights Watch "has no ties or association with Hammurabi."
      • The "journalism student," 43-year-old Thaer Thabit al-Hadithi, was in fact the founder of Hammurabi
        • One of only two employees, both having family members in local prisons for insurgent activity.
  • The Washington Post says eye-witnesses accuse the 12-man squad of massacring 24 unresisting civilians, including women and children
  • The LA Times reported Republican Representative John Kline of Minnesota as saying: "There is no question that the Marines involved, those doing the shooting, they were busy in lying about it and covering it up."
    • About a year later, Kline apologizes to Haditha Marines.
  • Defense attorneys contend the "massacre" tape lacks credibility because there was nothing in the footage to establish that it was shot where and when Hammurabi claims, and because it did not surface until four months after the incident.
    • The attorneys contend that the civilians died by accident when Marines used grenades and gunfire to clear a group of houses from which insurgents had fired on U.S. forces.
  • Currently,
    • Three senior officers in 3rd battalion have been relieved of duty because of a "lack of confidence" in their leadership.
    • The US Army is investigating how the incident was reported through the chain of command.
      • Major General Eldon Bargewell, who headed-up the investigation, completed his report, finding no evidence of a "knowing cover-up".
    • A second investigation, headed by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, is looking into the criminal aspects of the incident.
    • A third investigation is being launched by the Iraqi government.
    • Bogus photos and fraudulent testimony have been used by the media, without adequate investigation, in previous charges against American servicemen.
  • MSNBC: 12/21/06 - Marine Squad Leader to face charges

• Related information
  • 3rd battalion, 1st Marines lost 17 men in 10 days in Falluja.
  • The battalion arrived in Haditha, in autumn last year
    • Capt. James Kimber, (then) India Company Commander lists some recent 3/1 accomplishments:
      • 350 Weapons Caches found;
      • Over 40 IED (Improvised Explosive Devices) Neutralized;
      • Over 100 insurgents captured.
  • By the time the troops arrived in Haditha, it was reported that morale had plummeted.
    • A Daily Telegraph reporter who visited its headquarters early this year reported discipline was "approaching breakdown".
    • The wife of one of the battalion's staff sergeants alleged the Marine unit had suffered a "total breakdown" in discipline after it was pulled out of Falluja in early 2005.
      • "There were problems in Kilo company with drugs, alcohol, hazing [violent initiation games], you name it," she said.
  • Other observers, however, have come away from time spent with the Marines with different impressions. Lucian Read, a photographer who spent five months with Kilo company, said it was generally well led
    • Mr Read told Time magazine that Kilo company was the "most human" of the many units he had accompanied in Iraq. "They were never abusive," he said. "There was a certain amount of antagonism and frustration when people didn't cooperate ..."
  • James Crossen, sitting next to Terrazas and also injured, alleged that children in the area often helped insurgents by counting vehicles in a convoy. Crossen suggests that it is likely women and children had given information about US patrols to insurgents, and that this information led to the roadside bomb attack.

• June 10, 2006, NORCO, Calif. - Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich who led the squad of Marines said his unit did not intentionally target any civilians, followed military rules of engagement and never tried to cover up the shootings.
  • The Marine told his attorney that several civilians were killed when his squad went after insurgents who were firing at them from inside a house. He said there was no vengeful massacre.
    • "You Are NOT Authorized To Die"
      • He described a house-to-house hunt that went tragically awry in the middle of a chaotic battlefield.
  • Sergeant Wuterich, who has over seven years in the Corps but was on his first combat duty in Haditha, was officially promoted to the higher rank of Staff Sergeant on January 1, 2006, six weeks after the incident took place.

• Some private citizens protest against "the media presenting unproved allegations as fact," and the generally hostile treatment of combat Marines by the USMC itself. Their general feeling is:
  • "If the USMC Commandant won't prevent our Marines from being tried by the media, and the media won't present the facts fairly, then it's up to ordinary Americans to do this ourselves.
    • Media Bias
    • Jihadi hatred for USA
    • Voice of Islam: "Death To America"
    • Marines in shackles
    • The Real Haditha
    • John Murtha, Osama's Congressman
      • More of Murtha
      • Marine Names Rep. John Murtha in Defamation Suit
    • Rush to Judgment Against Haditha Marines
    • Reason for Doubt
    • MILINET: A Marine's Eye-View of Fallujah
    • Roots of Islamic Terrorism
    • The Danish Cartoons
    • A Good Marine

Personal Comment

I served two Korean War combat tours in the Navy with PHIBPAC. Barely into my first tour, I realized that, while I might have become a good Average Marine, I could never have become an average Good Marine.

Some Americans might have trouble defining a "Good Marine."

For one thing, that isn't a constant; a man might be a Good Marine up to one level of responsibility, or up to one length of sustained combat, or up to one level of temptation, and not deserve to wear the EGA when those limits are exceeded.

For another, minimum levels of the Corps' most honored qualities are a given, to be a Marine at all. Exceeding them in significant degree can be expected of a Good Marine, but no single quality guarantees such an honor under all circumstances, no matter how remarkably it exceeds the norm.

For example, Chesty Puller was incredibly brave. Possibly no Marine was braver. But, to me, he would not be the prototypical Good Marine because, as Regimental Commander, Col. Puller destroyed the 1st Marines at Pelilieu. He sent his men into murderous fire, repeatedly, futilely, long after it was obvious that the Japanese defenses were still much too strong to be taken by direct assault. They needed to be isolated from reinforcements and supplies, and then much further reduced by artillery and air. He destroyed one of the finest Regiments in the USMC. Needlessly. Senselessly.

He had exceeded his limitations of judgment, as Regimental Commander, in that battle, at that time.

At the time of this writing, a formal investigation is being prepared of alleged atrocities by one Marine unit in combat in Haditha, Iraq. Some members of the Media are using these charges to question the honor and integrity of the entire United States Marine Corps.

Whatever the outcome of the investigation, such generalized attacks only show ignorance of war, and USMC Esprit de Corps.

I know this is because I know something elements of the Media seem never to have understood. The Courage, Honor and Integrity of the United States Marine Corps are a living presence, defined and built by all the Marines who came before; the privilege of each new generation of Marines to continue.

It may happen that some Marine, or group of Marines, will fail this privilege. At some time. Under some circumstance. If this occurrred at Haditha it would not be the first time. It may not be the last. The mindless destruction of 1st Marines at Pelilieu may be repeated. But these are only exceptions. The essential truths of Courage, Honor and Integrity will always transcend these exceptions, as long as there are men and women willing to stand and risk their lives to earn the right to carry them forward.

Everyone who has ever been in combat, everyone who understands what it means to be an Infantryman in combat, everyone who has a clue about their performance under the ordeal of fire, recognizes and respects these qualities in the Marine Corps. This has been true from its inception and all through its history. This is true today.

This will remain true, as long as there are brave men and women willing to risk their lives for the right to wear the Eagle, Globe and Anchor.

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