Posted on 11/13/2006 6:36:47 PM PST by Mr. Brightside
Mother of Slain Marine Wants Mercy for 2
By JAY REEVES
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CULLMAN, Ala. (AP) - Marine MP Adam R. Fales died in Iraq, but not on its ruthless streets. He was killed in the barracks at Camp Fallujah, an M-16 slug in the back of his head.
At first, when it looked as if Fales had been murdered by an insurgent or perhaps even a comrade, Fales' mother wanted eye-for-an-eye justice. But since then, she has learned that it was a terrible accident involving two fellow Marines.
Now, she wants justice tempered by mercy.
Glenda Fales said she is supporting a plea bargain offered by the military under which two of her son's comrades would get a few months in the brig and an honorable discharge, rather than a possible 10 years in prison and a dishonorable discharge.
"I want them to be able to go on with their lives, to follow through with their plans," said Fales, sitting at a table with her husband, Joe, at a home furnishings store they recently opened in Cullman, about 50 miles north of Birmingham.
Two 21-year-old Marine reservists from a Pennsylvania unit, Lance Cpls. Michael C. Fulcher and Sean P. Riley, are accused in the death of Fales, a 21-year-old lance corporal killed on Dec. 16, 2005. The three were friends, and according to Fales' mother, Fales had spent his final hours watching a "Star Wars" movie with them before an M-16 that was not supposed to be loaded went off accidentally.
"We can't bring Adam back. Why ruin two more lives?" she said.
Fulcher is charged with involuntary manslaughter and negligent discharge of a weapon. Riley is accused of involuntary manslaughter and dereliction of duty.
Second Lt. Philip W. Klay, a spokesman at Camp Lejeune, N.C., declined to comment on any possible plea bargain, and military attorneys for Fulcher and Riley did not respond to messages seeking comment.
A court-martial for Fulcher is set for Tuesday at Camp Lejeune, and Riley's is scheduled for the next day. It would be up to the judge to decide whether to accept any plea bargain.
Fales, who had two brothers, including one who remains a Marine, died two months before he was scheduled to leave Iraq, where he was part of a group helping to prepare for Iraqi elections. He had been planning to get married this fall.
At first, Glenda Fales said, the Marines told the family that the quiet, well-liked young man was killed while asleep in his bunk, raising suspicions of a murder and sparking a feverish search for facts. Within days, relatives learned the shooting was an accident, but for weeks afterward, they groped for answers to lingering questions.
Glenda Fales said it wasn't until a hearing in August that she got the full story:
Her son was in a trailer shared by Riley and Fulcher, and all three were getting ready to go back out after watching a movie. Fulcher picked up Riley's rifle from a bed and it went off.
Glenda Fales said an investigation found that neither Riley nor a sergeant had properly checked the weapon to make sure the chamber was empty after Riley returned from patrol that day.
Both Marines agreed to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter, Fales said. Fulcher would get six months in custody, Riley five months, Fales said.
Most important for Fales, the men's records would not be forever stained by a dishonorable discharge, she said.
Glenda Fales will have a chance to tell the court about her son - how he was a football star at Fairview High School, how he first tried to joined the Marines at 17 but she wouldn't grant permission.
What Fales won't get to express is her lingering anger over what she sees as the Corps' refusal to address a breakdown in weapon-safety procedures that contributed to her son's death.
She said Marines often fail to "dry fire" their weapons into sand-filled barrels as a precaution before entering buildings. No one is being punished for failing to enforce the rules in Fales' death, she said.
But as part of the plea bargain, Fulcher and Riley agreed to join with the Fales family in making a training video about the importance of gun safety, she said.
The idea that other Marines may learn something from her son's death comforts Glenda Fales.
"I don't ever want this to happen again," she said.
God Bless her. It takes alot to forgive something like that.
You are so right, In war there are no absolutes especially dealing in a very dangerous enviornment.
You are so right, In war there are no absolutes especially dealing in a very dangerous enviornment.
I wouldn't be surprized if they become ministers of the Gospel.
What you said.
susie
EVERY firearm is loaded ALL the time. Surprising breach in any Marine.
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