A USMC tank driver got a little love from a convening authority today. WSJ reports here that the Marine commander in SW Afghanistan has dropped charges of negligent homicide in a 2011 friendly fire incident.  Sgt. Jason R. Byrd, had been “charged with negligent homicide and other offenses stemming from the friendly-fire death of Lance Cpl. Benjamin Schmidt on Oct. 6.”

Unlikely pairing over at CNN, here, of NBA sensation Jeremy Lin and the courts-martial related to the suicide and alleged hazing of Private Danny Chen and Corporal Harry Lew in Afghanistan.

Then on Thursday, a U.S. Marine sergeant was found not guilty of hazing Lance Cpl. Harry Lew, who committed suicide last April in Afghanistan. A Marine Corps report revealed that Lew had been beaten by his superiors with sand poured in his mouth for falling asleep while on duty. Another Marine was sentenced to 30 days in jail and demoted; a third faces court-martial over the death. Lew’s case along with that of Pvt. Danny Chen, who was found dead in October from an apparent suicide, have spurred Asian American members of Congress to demand hearings on hazing in the military.

Chen, the only Chinese American soldier in his unit in Afghanistan, was called “gook,” “chink” and “dragon lady,” forced to crawl on gravel while fellow troops threw rocks at him, and made to shout instructions in Chinese to fellow troops (no one else in his unit spoke Chinese). The Asian American civil rights group OCA has met with Pentagon officials to demand better treatment of Asians in the military.

Anyone know the inside baseball on the recent rash of Army declared deserters from cases that are years old?  See the stories of Private Louie Castro, here, and Pvt. Lamar Lawshe, here and here.  Lawshe’s attorney, friend o’ CAAFlog Scott Bielicki, tells us Lawshe was discharged and charges against him dropped–though not until after an 8 week delay for an Art. 32 hearing that the defense had waived its right to.

The Bowling Green Daily News reports, here, that SGT Brent Burke’s court-martial is now set for May 2, 2012 in the death of his wife and former mother-in-law in 2007.  Burke had faced two civilian trials for the same charges.  Prior coverage here and here.

In Ugandan MilJus news, here, certain segments of the bar are calling for prosecution of service-members accused of torture in civilian courts rather than courts-martial.

Comments are closed.