A 21-year-old Hawaii Marine who committed suicide in Afghanistan after repeatedly falling asleep on guard duty might have reacted to combat stress by sleeping on the job, his company commander said Thursday.

At 3:43 a.m. April 3, while crouched in a fighting position he had just been ordered to dig because he had fallen asleep for the fourth time, Lance Cpl. Harry Lew leaned over his automatic weapon, placed the muzzle in his mouth, and killed himself, the Marines say.

“It’s my belief that Lew’s stress reaction was to sleep,” said Capt. Michael Regner, who was commander of Golf Company on the deployment. “I think Lance Cpl. Lew would just sleep when he got really stressed.”

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 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 at the Kaneohe Marine Corps base and is expected to continue today to determine whether the Marines should be tried at courtmartial.

The Marine’s parents, Allen and Sandy Lew, attended the hearing, but Marine Corps officials said Thursday the family did not want to speak to the media.

At 11:30 p.m. April 2, 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.

Several hours later, 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. The reasons for Lew’s suicide remain a mystery to his command.

Debate also centered on whether the charged Marines hazed Lew. The Marines involved are with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment.

Before the deployment, some Marines said, there was big shake-up in the 2nd Battalion’s ranks partly because of hazing incidents involving those who had deployed to combat and those who hadn’t.

Lew, who was from Santa Clara, Calif., was portrayed as “happy-go-lucky.”

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 Regner, the company commander, as well as the battalion and regiment executive officers.

“He’s laid out, head tilted back,” with his weapon 4 to 5 feet away, Regner said Thursday. “He was clearly asleep, mouth open, eyes closed.”

Johns, the sergeant who is charged, took Lew off patrols and cut his sentry time in the hope it would correct Lew’s 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.

“There was no reserve of Marines to replace Marines who are tired,” Payne said. “Everyone is tired.”

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.

Payne said he thought Jacoby lost his temper with Lew, but there was no intention to haze him.