Thursday rally for accused Marines [Camp Pendleton--June 28!]

North County Times ^ | June 25, 2007

[RedRover]

NORTH COUNTY -- The father of a key witness in an ongoing series of court hearings for Marines accused of wrongdoing in Haditha in 2005 is planning a rally at the Camp Pendleton gate in Oceanside on Thursday.

Don Dinsmore is riding his motorcycle from Seattle to Camp Pendleton. He expects to be joined by dozens of supporters of accused Marines at Thursday's event.

Dinsmore's son, Capt. Jeff Dinsmore, was the intelligence officer for the base's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment when 24 Iraqi civilians were killed on Nov. 19, 2005.

The killings resulted in four battalion officers being charged with dereliction of duty for failing to fully investigate the incident and four enlisted men being charged with murder. Charges have since been dropped for one of the enlisted men in exchange for his testimony.

Court hearings have taken place for three of the accused Marines with no decision yet on whether any will be ordered to face court martial.

"We're riding for the Marines that did their job in Iraq and then came back and found themselves in trouble or charged with murdering Iraqis, which is absolutely absurd," Don Dinsmore, who's son has been called as a witness, said.

The rally is slated to start at about 1 p.m.

[RedRover]

Related threads:

• Blue Star Dad Organizes West Coast Motorcycle Run to Show Support for the Haditha Marines: a "live" thread (with maps and photos) of Don Dinsmore's ride from Seattle to Oceanside

• "I'm not here to give Capt. Dinsmore moral support, Sir, I'm here to watch his back...", posted by The Spirit of Allegiance. This will be the main thread for with information about rendezvous points for the ride and rally from Los Angeles to Oceanside

Don Dinsmore (at left above) served as a Navy photographer for 24 years, from Vietnam to OIF. He now has two sons in the Corps, one is a sergeant currently at Camp Pendleton. The other is Capt. Jeffrey Dinsmore who is currently deployed with the 3/1 in Iraq. (You can read Capt. Dinsmore's feelings about the Haditha investigation and charges on at post 43 on this thread.)

[RedRover]

[moonman]

Am I reading this correctly? The father of the witness is on the side of the Marine defendants? Didn’t his son cut a deal to help the prosecution? Is this a ‘duh me’?

[RedRover]

Capt. Jeff Dinsmore is the 3/1 intelligence officer. His testimony (and the evidence he’s presented in hearings thus far) essentially exonerates the Marines. So, no, he’s not cut a deal and is a major hero in this travesty.

[moonman]

thanks :)

[bray]

Don Dinsmore is an American Hero

Pray for W and Our Marines

[RedRover]

Anytime!

[RedRover]

Bump all you said!

[jazusamo]

BUMP! for Don Dinsmore and his ride for the Haditha Marines.

If you would like to help with the civilian lawyer’s legal fees for the
Haditha Marines you can do so by going to these sites.

Defend Our Marines

Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt

SSgt. Frank Wuterich

Lance Cpl. Stephen B. Tatum

Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani

Military Combat Defense Fund