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CAMP PENDLETON, Calif., Feb. 20, 2008 – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff stopped in here yesterday to see how the Marines Corps treats its wounded warriors. U.S. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaks with Marine Cpl. Giovanni Morales, a resident at the Wounded Warrior Battalion West at Camp Pendleton, Calif., Feb. 19, 2008. Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley, USN  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen visited the Wounded Warrior Battalion West facilities and spoke to wounded Marines in the program. The battalion...

Marine Cpl. Sean Stokes was almost pathologically reluctant to accept praise, even though his courage on the battlefield saved fellow Marines' lives and was chronicled in a book. He might have been embarrassed, then, by a ceremony at Camp Pendleton Wednesday awarding him the third-highest award for combat valor. But Stokes wasn't there to receive his Silver Star, awarded for his actions during the battle of Fallujah in 2004. The Northern California native was killed last summer during his third tour of duty in Iraq, two weeks after learning he would receive the medal. Stokes, who died at age 23,...

Canteen Mission Statement Showing support and boosting the morale ofour military and our allies militaryand the family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. Camp Pendleton History Marine Corps Air Station Please remember that The Canteen is here to support and entertain our troops and veterans and their families, and is family friendly.

CAMP PENDLETON - A military hearing officer said Saturday he has serious doubts over the validity of criminal charges filed against a Marine lieutenant in the aftermath of the slaying of 24 Iraqi civilians two years ago. The hearing officer, Col. Robert Stahlman, said that if 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson was guilty of dereliction of duty for not ordering an investigation into the slayings, numerous other members of the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment command staff should have been similarly charged. "I would have expected everyone in that battalion would have been charged and obviously that didn't happen," Stahlman said....

Marine Corps' Middle East commander getting new job and fourth star CAMP PENDLETON -- The Defense Department formally announced Tuesday that Camp Pendleton's Lt. Gen. James Mattis has been nominated by President Bush for a fourth star and appointment to the Joint Forces Command in Norfolk, Va. Mattis has led the base's 25,000-member I Marine Expeditionary Force and served as commander of Marine Corps forces throughout the Middle East since August of last year. He also served as the convening authority over war crime cases involving Marines in Iraq, a duty that he will pass to his successor. The U.S....

CAMP PENDLETON ---- A murder charge against a Marine sergeant accused of killing a captured man in Iraq in 2004 has been dropped. The Marine Corps announced this morning that an unpremeditated murder charge filed last month against Sgt. Jermaine A. Nelson has been dropped but could be refiled. Lt. Gen. James Mattis, head of Marine Corps Forces in the Middle East, ordered the dismissal pending his review of a probe into the alleged killing of four detainees during a battle in Fallujah on Nov. 9, 2004, according to a statement issued this morning at Camp Pendleton. "Mattis dismissed the...

All passengers on an American Airlines overnight flight to Chicago were ordered off a plane after complaints about a group of Arabic-speaking Iraqi men who were on their way home to Detroit. The incident forced passengers to stay overnight. The six Iraqi passengers had been training U.S. Marines at Camp Pendleton and worked for Defense Training Systems, a unit of the Alaska-based International Logistics Services Corp., said Dave Stephens, the company's chief executive officer. "They did nothing wrong," Stephens said Wednesday. A company press release called it "an unfortunate situation for all flight passengers."

CAMP PENDLETON ---- The Marine Corps announced Monday it has charged a sergeant with unpremeditated murder for the killing of an Iraqi detainee in Fallujah in 2004. Sgt. Jermaine A. Nelson is the second person charged in the case in which four detainees were killed. The incident was first reported in the North County Times in late June. A Marine Corps spokesman stressed that Nelson is considered innocent until findings show otherwise, adding that leadership at Camp Pendleton is committed to fully investigating alleged acts of wrongdoing in Iraq. "Our message is to tell the citizens of the United States...

PLYMOUTH (MA) - The parents of Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III met with the head of Marine Corps forces in the Middle East this week in the wake of their son’s conviction for killing an Iraqi civilian. Larry and Kathy Hutchins asked Lt. Gen James Mattis to look into inconsistencies that emerged during their son’s recent court martial and consider evidence that never made it to the trial. According to Tim Harrington, a friend of the Hutchins family, Mattis promised to review the record of the trial and determine if the Manomet native got a fair hearing. Larry and Kathy Hutchins...

CAMP PENDLETON -- A jury on Thursday convicted a Marine sergeant of second-degree murder and conspiracy in the death of an Iraqi man on April 26, 2006. Squad leader Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins, who was accused of being the leader of a plot to snatch and kill an Iraqi man near the village of Hamdania, faces life in prison for the conspiracy charge. It was unclear Thursday afternoon whether there was a minimum sentence for the murder conviction. Hutchins was charged with premeditated murder, but the jury chose a lesser charge for which to find him guilty. He was acquitted of...

CAMP PENDLETON — The war-crime hearings underway here have led to an unusual public airing of some of the Marine Corps' most tightly held combat secrets: the so-called rules of engagement that govern when Marines can use deadly force in Iraq. Testimony thus far suggests the rules are ambiguous and subjective, and leave many Marines feeling they are being hamstrung in their ability to protect themselves by killing or capturing the enemy. < snip > In the Haditha cases, where enlisted Marines killed numerous civilians during a raid, the hearing officer, Lt. Col. Paul Ware, has repeatedly expressed exasperation at...

Marine Col. Patrick Malay listens Monday to cultural instructor Joe Harris, who teaches Iraqi culture to Marines on Camp Pendleton.CAMP PENDLETON ---- Shake hands only with your right hand. Never set down your cup of coffee unless you want to insult your host. Shame and honor are very important to Iraqi Bedouin culture. Tribalism is the bedrock of Iraq, but jobs and security can transcend blood ties. Those were just a few of the messages that Marines from Camp Pendleton's 5th Marine Regiment started hearing Monday in a weeklong session of Iraqi cultural training. The training is aimed at making...

Haditha Hero- L/Cpl Stephen Tatum I know these men. Wuterich, Tatum, Chessani, Stone, Grayson and McConnell. When I look into the eyes of my son, L/Cpl Justin Sharratt, I see them. They tell me, sleep well tonight Mr. Sharratt, we will keep you safe. It is the duty entrusted to us, a duty in which we will not falter. They don’t want medals, they don’t want gold. They need our support. On Monday 16 July 2007, L/Cpl Stephen Tatum will face an Article 32 hearing questioning his actions in Haditha, Iraq. Stephen and his family will face his accusers, the...

DON KOHLBAUER / Union-Tribune Marine Cpl. Trent D. Thomas (right) walks to the courtroom at Camp Pendleton earlier this week during his court-martial proceedings. He is accompanied by military defense counsel Maj. Dale Saran CAMP PENDLETON – The Iraqi that Marine Cpl. Trent Thomas helped to kidnap and kill is hardly the innocent victim that prosecutors have described, Thomas' attorneys said Friday. Marine investigators didn't even get the dead man's name right, Thomas' defense team said during the fifth day of his court-martial at Camp Pendleton. “We believe the person killed was extremely likely to be an insurgent,” attorney...

CAMP PENDLETON -- The military hearing officer who has recommended murder charges be dropped against one of three Marines charged in the 2005 slaying of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha will also preside over hearings for the other two.Lt. Col. Paul J. Ware's knowledge of the case and the manner in which he conducted a recent hearing for Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt could help their clients, attorneys for the remaining two defendants said Wednesday. In a report released Tuesday, Ware cited self-defense and insufficient evidence in recommending that three murder charges against Sharratt be dropped. Proceeding to trial without a...

Snip-CAMP PENDLETON — A hearing officer recommended Tuesday that murder charges be dropped against Marine Lance Cpl. Justin L. Sharratt in the fatal shooting of Iraqi civilians in the western town of Haditha in late November 2005

NORTH COUNTY ---- The author of a book about the battle of Fallujah in 2004 said Thursday that he has known for more than a year about allegations that members of a Camp Pendleton platoon shot and killed eight Iraqi prisoners of war during the fighting. Longtime military affairs writer and Vietnam War veteran Nat Helms said during a telephone interview that he first learned of the incident while conducting interviews for a book he helped write, "My Men Are Heroes: The Brad Kasal Story." Helms said he chose not to report the allegations publicly until after the North County...

NORTH COUNTY ---- A federal agency is investigating whether Camp Pendleton Marines shot and killed a group of prisoners in the city of Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004, according to several military and legal sources. The sources told the North County Times that the Naval Criminal Investigative Service probe centers on whether five to 10 Marines violated the laws of war. "They have interviewed about 20 people so far and some have been read their rights," a source with direct knowledge of the probe said Friday. Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the killing of a captured enemy combatant who...

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...

A motorcycle ride is being organized to start on June 23rd at Seattle, Washington and finish on June 28th at the Main Gate of Camp Pendleton, Oceanside California.The main compliment of riders will be veterans of all branches of our military who are fed up with the way the Marine Corps and the political community are treating the Marines, mainly the men of Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, the “Thundering Third.” These Marines fought in Haditha and returned home the champions that they are, only to find themselves indicted on charges from murder to cover-up. These charges have...