3 isle Marines are set to be tried in deadly hazing

Three Hawaii Marines will face general court-martial on multiple charges ranging from abuse and humiliation to assault and dereliction of duty leading up to the suicide of Marine Lance Cpl. Harry Lew in Afghanistan, officials said Wednesday.

At 3:43 a.m. April 3, while crouched in a foxhole he had just been ordered to dig because he had fallen asleep for the fourth time on sentry duty in less than two weeks, Lew leaned over his automatic weapon, placed the muzzle in his mouth and killed himself, the Marines say.

Sgt. Benjamin E. Johns, 26; Lance Cpl. Jacob D. Jacoby, 21; and Lance Cpl. Carlos Orozco III, 22 — three Hawaii Marines who were at Patrol Base Gowragi in southern Afghanistan with Lew — face charges in his death.

All were with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, out of Kaneohe Bay.

Jacoby is charged with abusing and demeaning Lew, three counts of assault for allegedly kicking Lew in the back and head, punching him while Lew wore his Kevlar helmet and threatening Lew that he would receive a beating, the Corps said.

Johns is charged with humiliating and demeaning Lew and dereliction for failing to supervise a Marine under his care.

Orozco faces charges including humiliating Lew, dereliction, maltreatment of Lew for allegedly ordering him to do pushups, ordering him to do leg lifts with a sandbag and pouring sand on his face, and assault for reportedly placing his boot on Lew’s back.

The charges referred to court-martial against Orozco were modified from those originally brought against him: One count of assault for kicking Lew in the head while Lew wore his helmet was dropped, and a second assault charge was altered.

The second assault charge previously said Orozco "stomped" on Lew’s back, while the referred charge says Orozco "placed his boot" on Lew’s back.

At 11:30 p.m. April 2, about four hours before he died, a sleeping Lew was pulled by his helmet from his fighting position, berated in a voice loud enough to wake other Marines and ordered to carry a filled sandbag and dig a new chest-deep position, according to the investigation of his death.

Lew was ordered to do pushups and crunches while a lance corporal would "stomp down" on Lew’s back and legs. Sand from a sandbag was poured on his face and Lew was kicked and punched in the back of his helmet, the report states.

The investigation said the Marines didn’t cause Lew’s death, but were the "catalyst" for it.

Brig. Gen. Frederick Padilla, the commanding general of the 3rd Marine Division, referred the charges against the three Marines to a general court-martial, officials said Wednesday. A court-martial date has not been set.

The case has received national attention in part because hazing continues to be a problem in the Marine Corps. Lew’s aunt, U.S. Rep. Judy Chu of California, spoke about her nephew on the House floor after his death, and discussed his suicide during a hearing.

"The Marine Corps does not tolerate hazing of any kind," the service said Wednesday in an emailed statement. "When allegations of hazing are made, they are investigated and if substantiated, appropriate corrective action is taken."

Testimony at an Article 32 hearing in September similar to a civilian preliminary hearing revealed that Marines who knew Lew were at a loss as to explain why he killed himself about two months before the unit returned to Hawaii.

Investigating officer Lt. Col. Douglas Gardner, the judge in the case, repeatedly asked witnesses whether Lew’s Asian-American background was the subject of comments.

Marines testified that Lew and others made jokes about race.

In less than two weeks at Patrol Base Gowragi, a field where about 27 Marines lived in holes dug in the ground, Lew had fallen asleep four times on guard duty, according to the investigation and officials.

On one occasion, Lew was discovered asleep at the entry control point for the base by his company commander, as well as the battalion and regimental executive officers.

Capt. Michael Regner, the commander of Golf Company on the deployment, testified in September that Lew might have reacted to combat stress by sleeping on the job.

"It’s my belief that Lew’s stress reaction was to sleep," Regner said at the time.

Marines who witnessed the actions against Lew offered conflicting testimony as to the force used when Lew reportedly was kicked and punched, but it was enough for another Marine to tell the others to stop because he didn’t want it on his conscience if Lew committed suicide, according to testimony.

Johns, the sergeant who is charged, had taken Lew off patrols and cut his sentry time in the hope it would correct his sleeping problems, said the platoon commander at the time, 1st Lt. Jameson Payne.

Payne, who was aware of only some of the sleeping incidents, said he told Lew he was going to receive nonjudicial punishment, but added that he didn’t have enough Marines to take him off guard duty.

The Marines involved were not read their rights before giving written statements in Afghanistan, according to testimony, and defense attorneys indicated at the Article 32 hearing that they would seek to suppress the statements.