Hazing and race in the Marine Corps were focused on Friday as a hearing at Marine Corps Base Hawaii continued to examine the suicide death of Lance Cpl. Harry Lew in Afghanistan and whether three Marines should be punished for their actions leading up to it.

The 21-year-old from Santa Clara, Calif., was on his first combat deployment when he was subjected to a series of physical tasks, had sand dumped on his face, and was kicked and punched in the helmet after falling asleep on guard duty for the fourth time at an austere patrol base, according to an investigation.

The Marines say Lew, who was with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, killed himself on April 3 with his automatic weapon as he crouched in a new fighting hole he had been ordered to dig that night.

Thenati case has received onal 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 Friday during a hearing.

Three Hawaii Marines who were at Patrol Base Gowragi in southern Afghanistan with Lew — Sgt. Benjamin E. Johns, 26; Lance Cpl. Jacob D. Jacoby, 21; and Lance Cpl. Carlos Orozco III, 22 — face charges ranging from demeaning and humiliating Lew to dereliction of duty and assault leading up to his death.

An Article 32 hearing similar to a civilian preliminary hearing was held Thursday and Friday at the Kaneohe Bay Marine Corps base that will result in a recommendation as to whether the Marines should be tried at courts-martial.

Testimony revealed that the 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.

Navy corpsman Bruce Lara, who is of Asian descent and served with Lew at PB Gowragi, said racial jokes did bother Lew to a small degree, but that there was equal treatment of all ethnicities in Marines’ jokes.

Lara said he was assigned to perform guard duty on some occasions with Lew because he, too, had fallen asleep while on post.

“It’s kind of a thing to keep both of us awake. A learning lesson,” Lara said by phone from Camp Pendleton, Calif., where he is now based.

The corpsman said the other guard duties at PB Gowragi were single-man posts, but he did not believe the two were paired up because of their ethnicity. Lew was posted alone the night he died.

Johns, the sergeant charged, would give menial duties to Marines on their first deployment, and Lara and Lew and a handful of other first-timers were always picked for the undesirable jobs, Lara said.

Lew “was always a happy kid,” Lara said — except for when he was on guard duty.

“He was always quiet on post. That’s when I feel something was different with him,” Lara said.

Lara was asked whether Lew ever mentioned problems with his family, girlfriends or other Marines. “Nope,” Lara answered.

The corpsman also said he and other Marines received briefings on hazing prohibitions from the battalion as far back as August 2010, when a sergeant was injured during hazing.

Lt. Col. John Evans Jr., the 2nd Battalion commander before and during the Afghanistan deployment, said by phone that he had given “numerous” briefings about hazing.

“I knew it was a concern, so I addressed it, I’d say no less than five to six times during pre-deployment training,” Evans said.

Evans described a series of hazing incidents, with most involving new Marines being made to do physical activity in the barracks after hours, with drinking involved.

He described “drowning Washington,” and “drowning Lincoln,” using a quarter or penny and forcing a Marine to do physical activity over the coin until sweat dripped enough to cover the coin.

Evans said he emphasized to his Marines that if they used illegal drugs or hazed others, they would be discharged with an otherthan-honorable discharge.

In a strange twist in the case, one of the defense attorneys sought to introduce — as an indicator of Lew’s mental state — photos of Lew that appeared on the Internet and on TV showing him in a dress Marine uniform with ribbons or medals the attorney said Lew was not entitled to wear.

But Gardner, the investigating officer, said the prosecution could proffer evidence that one of the photos was “created” by Lew’s father for funeral purposes.

The three charged Marines were characterized as being above average to superior by their peers who testified. Gardner discussed with one of three military defense attorneys whether there was a need for character witnesses, saying the three Marines had “stellar” reputations.