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A military appeals court has ruled against CBS in a battle over unaired portions of a "60 Minutes" interview with a key figure in the 2005 slaying of 24 Iraqis in the city of Haditha. The U.S. Navy-Marine Corps Court of Appeals rejected the network's claim of reporter privilege in its battle with Marine Corps prosecutors who want access to the outtakes of Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich's interview. Wuterich is charged with nine counts of voluntary manslaughter and related offenses in the incident that was triggered by a roadside bombing that killed one Marine and injured two others. His case...

The Marine Corps has decided not to seek to reinstate criminal charges against a former battalion commander at Camp Pendleton for a 2005 incident in which his troops killed 24 civilians in Haditha, Iraq. Chessani Instead, the Marine Corps will convene a Board of Inquiry to hear testimony and recommend whether Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani should be demoted to major for purposes of retirement. Even if such a recommendation is made and then accepted by the Secretary of the Navy, Chessani's retirement pay would still be based on being a lieutenant colonel. The Marine Corps had sought to try Chessani...

The Marine Corps may be closer to giving up its troubled prosecution of Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani... ~ snip ~...a final decision on whether the case gets dropped rests with Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway. And if that happens, Chessani would become the seventh of eight Camp Pendleton Marines charged with crimes at Haditha to be fully exonerated. ~ snip ~[SSgt Frank] Wuterich's attorneys plan to seek a dismissal of the charges against their client for the same unlawful command influence found in the Chessani case. They haven't been able to file that motion, however, because his case is...

By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer Nedra Pickler, Associated Press Writer – 2 mins ago WASHINGTON – A federal appeals court has ruled that a Marine cannot sue Pennsylvania Rep. John Murtha for defamation. Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich of Meriden, Conn., claimed Murtha damaged his reputation by saying he and his comrades killed women and children "in cold blood" in Haditha, Iraq, in November 2005. Murtha argued he has immunity from the lawsuit because he was acting in his official role as a lawmaker...

End politically-motivated prosecutions of Jeffrey Chessani and Frank Wuterich, begin the immediate jailing of John MurthaMarines of 3/1 Kilo Co. reacted as they were instructed. But due to political pressure to end the war, seven Marines and their Commanding Officer were lynched by Time Magazine’s Tim McGirk and members of Congress after a sham trial in the court of public opinion. Jeffrey Chessani’s struggle has dragged on for four years. Despite the prosecutorial suppression of mountains of exculpatory evidence, the charges were ultimately dismissed. The large number of prejudicial statements and leaks by politicians and media mouthpieces irreparably tainted the...

During a March 22, 2009, Freedom Radio interview, retired Marine Lieutenant Colonel Robert Weimann discussed the improper command influence that occured throughout much of the Haditha investigation. The 'Sins of the Generals' were many and began even before Tim McGirk's insurgent talking-points driven Time magazine article. The top brass violated both the spirit and intent of the 1986 'Goldwater-Nichols Department of Defense Reform Act'. The combat commander was the convening authority yet politicians, those outside the chain-of-command, and others improperly interjected themselves, let media buzz and enemy propaganda into their decision cycles, and forced further investigation even after Army Colonel...

Last modified Tuesday, March 10, 2009 4:44 PM PDT Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich leaves his arraignment at Camp Pendleton in 2008. (File Photo by Bill Wechter - Staff Photographer) MILITARY: Haditha case back in court WednesdayBy MARK WALKER - Staff WriterCAMP PENDLETON ---- Attorneys for CBS and the Marine Corps are due in a base courtroom Wednesday to battle over unaired portions of a "60 Minutes" interview with a Marine recounting the slaying of 24 Iraqi civilians following a roadside bombing. Prosecutors contend that segments of the interviews not shown in the March 2007 broadcast may prove their case...

A military judge must review unaired portions of a CBS "60 Minutes" interview with Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich in which he recounts the slaying of 24 Iraqi civilians following a roadside bombing, a military appeals court has ruled. Prosecutors contend that Wuterich may make admissions on those tapes, known as outtakes, that could help them prove him guilty of manslaughter and related offenses in the 2005 slayings in the Iraqi city of Haditha. The Nov. 17 ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces is the latest in an ongoing skirmish between CBS and the Marine...

Leading The News Court hears arguments in case of Marine vs. Murtha By Susan Crabtree Posted: 11/18/08 07:21 PM [ET] A Marine who is suing Rep. John Murtha for defamation wants a federal appeals court to order the powerful Pennsylvania Democrat to testify under oath about comments he made related to the deaths of unarmed Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha in 2005. An attorney for Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich on Tuesday asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to compel Murtha to give a deposition in the case. Attorney Mark Zaid said he...

A three-judge appellate panel is set to hear argument Tuesday in the defamation lawsuit against Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), accused of making false statements to news reporters about a U.S. Marine and his role in the deaths of Iraqi civilians. Judges Karen LeCraft Henderson, Judith Rogers, and Harry Edwards of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit are the panel. Mark Zaid and Bradley Moss, counsel for Frank Wuterich, argue Murtha made “outrageous” statements about Wuterich and his comrades regarding the death of Iraqi civilians in Haditha in 2005. Murtha “inappropriately compared the tragic events of Haditha with...

The CBS television network battled it out with the Marine Corps Wednesday morning at the US Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces in Washington, D.C. The fight is over outtakes from a 60 Minutes interview with a Marine sergeant accused of killing civilians in Haditha, Iraq. Lawyers representing the three sides (the Marine Corps, CBS and SSgt Frank Wuterich) told the five-judge panel why, and why not, the Marine Corps should be entitled to video recordings the news program didn’t use. The interview was conducted by correspondent Scott Pelley for the 60 Minutes investigation, "The Killings in Haditha". It...

In the nearly two years since eight Camp Pendleton Marines were charged with killing 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha, six of the men have been exonerated, and widespread interest in the case has waned. Still, the final chapters in the 2005 killings that reverberated around the world, affected the military's rules of engagement and played a large role in how the war was viewed have yet to be written. Appellate court hearings for the two remaining defendants over the next month will establish the outline of how Haditha's story will end. One of the defendants is the battalion commander at...

CAMP PENDLETON ---- The Marine Corps is going to battle with CBS in what could become a prominent First Amendment case stemming from one of the highest-profile incidents arising out of the Iraq war. At issue is whether government prosecutors should have access to outtakes from a "60 Minutes" interview of a Marine who in 2005 led his squad in the killing of 24 Iraqi civilians, including several women and children. Legal experts and media advocates say the chances of the Marine Corps prevailing over the revered media giant are slim. Several news organizations have joined CBS in its fight...

Bob Weimann | July 25, 2008 | Pdf version______________________________________________________ “For as long as men and women have talked about war, they have talked about it in terms of right and wrong. And for almost as long, some among them have derided such talk, called it a charade, insisted that war lies beyond (or beneath) moral judgment. War is a world apart, where life itself is at stake, where human nature is reduced to its elemental forms, where self-interest and necessity prevail. Here men and women do what they must to save their selves and their communities, and morality and law...

The US Navy-Marine Corps Court of Appeals has ruled that the CBS television news magazine 60 Minutes must turn over outtakes from its interview with Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich in which he revealed what happened at the so-called “Haditha Massacre” in Iraq more than three years ago. The three-judge appellate panel Friday directed Marine Corps military judge Lt. Col. Jeffrey G. Meeks to “conduct additional fact-finding” including an “in camera review” of the outtakes to determine whether Wuterich revealed any information the government needs to bolster its prosecution against the Marine infantryman. The ruling of the military judge...

A court martial on Wednesday acquitted a US Marine for his role in the deaths of 24 civilians in Haditha in Iraq in 2005, the sixth man to be exonerated in the affair, a military official said. Lieutenant Andrew Grayson, 27, was declared "not guilty on all charges" by a jury, said a spokesman for the Camp Pendleton military base in southern California where the hearing started on May 28. Grayson had been charged with making false statements and attempting to fraudulently separate from the Marine Corps. He was also charged with obstruction of justice, but the military judge dismissed...

The Marine Corps attorneys representing Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich in the so-called “Haditha Massacre” investigation are expected to step down without closure more than a year after their client was charged. Baring unseen events, they will be off the defense team by August 1 and likely earlier than that, according to civilian co-counsel, Mark Zaid. Meanwhile, Wuterich remains in limbo at Camp Pendleton while government prosecutors wrangle with 60 Minutes lawyers over video outtakes the government says will help prove the incident at Haditha was a crime. Wuterich's trial will take place sometime in the fall. Lieutenant Colonel Colby C....

The mockudrama "Battle for Haditha" is going to be making its US premeire in May. As part of the publicity blitz for the fictionalized version of the incident at Haditha, Eliot Ruiz, who portrays Cpl. Ramirez (aka Staff Sgt Frank Wuterich) is making the rounds in his hometown of Philly. It's disgusting that a worthless piece of fiction is presented as a "docudrama" of the events on November 19, 2005. But what is worse is former Marines portraying those whose honor and service were forever tarnished in the Murtha-inspired witch-hunt. "...When I first heard about Nick's film I wasn't sure...

SAN DIEGO -- A military prosecutor is appealing a judge's decision to throw out a subpoena for unaired footage of a "60 Minutes" interview given by a Marine squad leader charged in the killings of 24 Iraqis. The appeal prompted the indefinite postponement of Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich's court-martial, which was scheduled to begin March 10, Wuterich's attorney, Mark Zaid, told The Associated Press on Friday. Marine prosecutor Capt. Nicholas Gannon has said in court documents the unaired CBS footage is vital to the case because it contains admissions by Wuterich of crimes in the attack in Haditha, Iraq,...

CAMP PENDLETON -- A jury that includes several combat veterans will gather in a courtroom here one week from Monday to hear the first case against four Marines being prosecuted in the slaying of two dozen Iraqi civilians more than two years ago. The court-martial of Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich will offer dramatically competing versions of what happened in the city of Haditha on Nov. 19, 2005, and the outcome could set the tone for subsequent courts-martial of the three other Marines. The prosecutions are themselves controversial, drawing scorn from active-duty Marines and retired veterans, as well as global attention....

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. (Map, News) - Military prosecutors say unaired footage of a CBS interview given by a Marine squad leader contains admissions of crimes in an attack that killed 24 Iraqi civilians. Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich "apparently admits in an unaired segment that he did in fact order his men to 'shoot first and ask questions later,'" Capt. Nicholas Gannon said in response to a motion filed by CBS seeking to quash a subpoena seeking the footage. CBS is set to ask a military judge Friday to throw out the subpoena during a pretrial hearing for Wuterich, who...

Defense suggesting that 'undue command influence' led to charges against Marine CAMP PENDLETON ---- What did the generals know and how did they influence the decision to charge Marines with crimes in the killing of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha in 2005? That's the crux of ongoing attempts by attorneys for Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich to interview several current and former Marine Corps generals as they prepare for his court-martial, set to begin March 3. During a two-day motion hearing this week, Wuterich's attorneys told a military judge they are endeavoring to contact former Camp Pendleton Gen. James Mattis and...

CAMP PENDLETON -- The Marine Corps has ordered one of two men charged with manslaughter in the 2005 deaths of 24 civilians in the Iraqi city of Haditha to testify for the prosecution at the court-martial for a co-defendant. Lance Cpl. Stephen Tatum has been ordered to appear at the trial of Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, which is scheduled to start in less than three weeks, and tell the jury his version of the events of Nov. 19, 2005. Tatum's attorney Jack Zimmerman said he was caught by surprise when served with the order. "We were sent a copy of...

A key witness in the upcoming court-marshal of Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich should not be allowed to testify in Wuterich’s behalf, the prosecutor claims in a motion filed in the Haditha Marines case. Wuterich, 27, is being tried for voluntary manslaughter in connection with the killings of 24 Iraqi citizens in the town of Haditha on Nov. 19, 2005, shortly after a roadside bomb hit a Marine convoy, killing the driver of a Humvee and wounding two other Marines. Maj. Jeffrey Dinsmore, who was the battalion intelligence officer of Wuterich’s unit, has previously revealed that, based on his intelligence briefings,...

CAMP PENDLETON – The Marine Corps has subpoenaed outtakes from a “60 Minutes” TV interview of Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, who led a group of Camp Pendleton Marines in killing 24 Iraqi civilians about two years ago. The revelation was made Friday during a court hearing for Wuterich on the base. Prosecutors have described the Marines' actions Nov. 19, 2005, in the city of Haditha as a massacre. Wuterich and a fellow Marine are scheduled for trial on charges such as voluntary manslaughter, while two officers will be tried for allegedly trying to cover up the killings. Camp Pendleton officials...

The court martial for SSgt Frank Wuterich, USMC, has been scheduled for March 3-14, Defend Our Marines has learned. The court martial for a second enlisted man, LCpl Stephen Tatum, is scheduled to commence March 28. The battalion commander, LtCol Jeffrey Chessani, will go on trial on April 28. A fourth court martial, for Lt Andrew Grayson, has not yet been scheduled. Before SSgt Wuterich's trial commences, there will be two sessions for arguments on motions on February 13-15, 2008, and then on February 20-22, 2008. Attorney Mark Zaid says, "We expect a very lively pre-trial environment as several very...

CAMP PENDLETON ---- The man at the center of the killings of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha two years ago stood up in a Camp Pendleton courtroom this morning and was formally arraigned on charges of voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and related offenses. Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich did not enter a plea during a 35-minute session, telling a judge in a calm and firm voice that he would do so at a later date. The Connecticut native also told the military judge, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Meeks, that he would declare at a later date whether he wants...

Charges against another U.S. Marine caught up in the political fallout from an ambush in Haditha, Iraq, in 2005 have been reduced, officials have confirmed. Authorities at Camp Pendleton, Calif., said in a statement that the remaining charges against Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, who was accused of leading the campaign that resulted in the deaths of two dozen Iraqis, are "voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault" and others. But Lt. Gen. Samuel Helland, the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Central commander, "dismissed the charges of unpremeditated murder, soliciting another to commit an offense and false official statement," according to a Reuters report. Eight...

The Marine Corps has now acknowledged that none of the Marines charged with criminal offenses for their actions at Haditha, Iraq committed murder. Lieutenant General Samuel Helland’s decision to dismiss charges of unpremeditated murder against Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich lay to rest specious allegations by Time Magazine reporter Tim McGirk and Congressman John Murtha that a My Lai-style massacre occurred in Haditha on November 19, 2005. A Marine Corps spokesman said Monday that Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich will face trial on charges of voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, dereliction of duty and obstruction of justice for his role in...

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, the accused leader in the 2005 killings of 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha, will face voluntary manslaughter charges but not more serious murder charges, the U.S. Marines said on Monday. "The charges referred against SSgt Wuterich are voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, dereliction of duty and obstruction of justice," Camp Pendleton, California, said in a statement. Lt. Gen. Samuel Helland, the commander of U.S. Marine Corps Forces Central, "dismissed the charges of unpremeditated murder, soliciting another to commit an offense and false official statement," the statement said. Eight Marines...

Photo above: SSgt Frank Wuterich and then-Cpl Hector Salinas in Iraq, 2005. Click to enlarge.Marine Corps Sergeant Hector A. Salinas (erroneously identified as a murder suspect by the media for his role at Haditha, Iraq but never charged) has been granted testimonial immunity by the general overseeing the investigation of the so-called “massacre” of 24 Iraqi citizens killed that day. On November 19, 2005 Salinas, then 21, was a grenadier in a squad of Marine infantrymen from Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines that was ambushed by an Al Qaeda financed and led attack force at Haditha. His four-vehicle convoy...

Lawyers for Rep. John P. Murtha will appeal a recent ruling advancing a defamation lawsuit brought against the Pennsylvania Democrat by a U.S. Marine under investigation for killing Iraqi civilians. Justice Department lawyers representing Murtha on Nov. 16 filed notice that they planned to appeal a federal district court judge’s Sept. 28 ruling allowing the lawsuit to proceed and ordering Murtha to give sworn testimony in the case. Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich sued Murtha in August 2006, accusing the 17-term congressman of defaming him during a news conference last year on the Nov. 19, 2005 killings of Iraqi civilians...

Note: This is an excerpt, in text form, for convenience. To see the entire report (including its footnotes), go here for a pdf. ________________________________________________________Summary of factsOn 19 November 2005, in Haditha, Iraq, Staff Sergeant Wuterich (SSgt) was the driver of the third vehicle of a four vehicle convoy. As the convoy traveled down route Chestnut returning from a logistics mission, an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) exploded under the fourth vehicle in the convoy. Prior to the explosion LCpl Sharratt waved to a driver of an oncoming white sedan to pull over as the convoy approached. Directing oncoming traffic to pull...

Are Members of Congress Accountable for Anything? By Clarice Feldman Are Congressmen above the law? The case of Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich against Congressman John Murtha (D-PA) tests this basic question. Of course there are other reasons to ask the same question. In a year when Congressional committees see no limits to what they will subpoena from the executive branch or about what they will interrogate its officers and employees, they rushed to court to keep the Department of Justice from subpoenaing the records of a Congressman caught with tens of thousands of dollars in his freezer. [snip] It is...

Official recommends Wuterich should be tried for negligent homicide in deaths of two women, five children CAMP PENDLETON -- A Marine Corps official has recommended that murder charges be dismissed against a Camp Pendleton squad leader accused in the deaths of 17 civilians killed in the Iraqi city of Haditha two years ago. The official, Lt. Col. Paul Ware, said in a recommendation obtained by the North County Times that rather than face murder charges, squad leader Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich should be tried for the lesser offense of negligent homicide in the deaths of five children and two women....

Saturday, November 19, 2005 started off as a normal day for 1st Squad 3rd Platoon Kilo Company in Hadithah, Iraq. 0530 was reveille and 0600 I gave my patrol brief to the squad. Although, the mission was something we had conducted and accomplished dozens of times before, today would be extraordinarily different. The vehicle order was the same, and the squad break-down was the same. Two forms of positive communication was a requirement and that was met with a 148 in the third vehicle, and VRC-89 in the first vehicle which was a hard back HMMWV. The other three vehicles...

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- A Marine accused in the deaths of 17 Iraqi civilians said Thursday his mission changed from a supply run to countering an attack after a roadside bomb killed a fellow Marine. Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich made his unsworn statement as a military hearing ended into the deaths in the town of Haditha in November 2005. "I realized my mission had changed. We had practiced this mission countless times before, in classrooms, on whiteboards," said Wuterich, who faces charges of unpremeditated murder. Wuterich also said he will "always mourn the unfortunate deaths of the innocent Iraqis...

CAMP PENDLETON -- A federal agent said Wednesday that he couldn't tell if five Iraqi civilians killed nearly two years ago in the city of Haditha were running away when they were shot, as a Marine staff sergeant charged with the killings contends. Special Agent Thomas Brady said his reconstruction of the scene outside a car where the five men were slain moments after a roadside bomb destroyed a Humvee and killed a lance corporal the morning of Nov. 19, 2005, was inconclusive on that point. Brady's testimony came on the third day of an Article 32 hearing for Staff...

CAMP PENDLETON, California: Seconds after a roadside bomb exploded in Haditha and killed a Marine driving a Humvee, five Iraqi men who were at the scene in a white car were shot to death by the dead Marine's squad mates. Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich has acknowledged shooting the men in the 2005 incident, but claims he did so because they were running away from the site of the blast. Combat rules at the time allowed Marines to shoot at people fleeing the scene of an attack. Precisely how the men died was to be scrutinized, as a the Article 32...

Camp Pendleton -- A sergeant granted immunity from prosecution for allegedly murdering five Iraqi men in Haditha crumbled under hard questioning by a Marine Corps lawyer in the second day of Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich's Article 32 hearing. Wuterich, 27, from Meriden, Connecticut is accused of murdering 17 Iraqi civilians following the ambush of his squad on November 19, 2005. During the daylong fight, 24 Iraqis were killed by Marines, dueling with several groups of insurgents hiding among the civilians cowering in their homes. When the fighting ended eight insurgents had been killed and at least two others were captured...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Flying over Haditha, Iraq, on November 19, 2005, a small, unmanned spy plane called "Scan Eagle" recorded scenes of heavy fighting -- bombings and strafings from the air, and ground work by U.S. Marines seeking insurgents who earlier in the day had set off a roadside bomb that killed one of their members. Lawyers for Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich will introduce video of Haditha taken by a drone as evidence. The Scan Eagle arrived about 30 minutes after the initial bomb attack on the Marines and does not show the the civilians being killed. It...

Ronald Perry and Bill Hesse have never met Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, but they consider him a brother. They will be watching with interest as Wuterich, a native of this small New England town, goes before a military judge in California this week charged with the unpremeditated murder of 18 Iraqi civilians...in the village of Haditha. The two Vietnam-era Marines have donated to Wuterich's defense fund and helped convince the city's Marine Corps League to do the same. Like many this small central Connecticut city, Perry and Hesse view Wuterich not as a killer, but as a patriot and...

HADITHA HERO- SSgt Frank Wuterich When choices had to be made..he did not shrink from the decisions. As a high school senior, Frank Wuterich entered the Marine Corps Delayed Entry Program. Frank would become a United States Marine..the Few, the Proud, the Marines. It was a choice he felt he had to make. College would have to wait. Frank felt his country needed him more. Stationed at Parris Island, SC Sgt Wuterich trained as the war in Iraq passed him by. Frank re-enlisted and was transferred to Camp Pendleton, CA.. There he joined ‘The Thundering Third’- 3rd Battalion, 1st Regiment,...

CAMP PENDLETON -- More answers to questions arising from the largest civilian killing incident since the start of the Iraq war are expected this week when the man at the center of the case, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, makes his first court appearance since being charged with murdering 18 people in the city of Haditha nearly two years ago. "He has nothing to hide," Wuterich's lead attorney, Neal Puckett, said last week. "We have faith that the military justice system will support split-second decisions made during combat," said Puckett. For Wuterich, a jail sentence isn't the only thing at stake....

MERIDEN - Rosemarie Wuterich was ecstatic Thursday after learning of a report that appears to exonerate one of the Marines accused in the November 2005 deaths of 24 men, women and children in Haditha, Iraq. It wasn't about her son, Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich, who is facing 18 murder charges, but the report on Lance Cpl. Justin L. Sharratt includes her son and could help his case. "It's absolutely wonderful," Rosemarie Wuterich said from the west-side home where she and her husband, David, raised Frank and his sister, who were both adopted. "We're so happy for (Sharratt)," she continued....

I feel American Citizens must make their position known, regarding any conflict that we decide is necessary to stabilize our relationships with Foreign Nations. I feel that President Bush has not forgotten the 9/11 attack on the United States of America, as many of us tend to do, with the passage of time. Personally I applaud his actions; and, I have great regard for any person that has started a mission, and remains dedicated to the cause. We do not have enough Legislators, or American Citizens, that have the unwavering fortitude to remain “true to their cause”, even if they...

Our son is Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich the squad leader at Haditha. Most of you know the circumstances of Haditha, the ambush, the IED explosion, the loss of a comrade, the ensuing firefight, the aftermath of the engagement and then the media frenzy condemning our son and his squad. We would now like you to know a little bit about our son. As a young boy in elementary and middle school, Frank always wanted to be challenged to do his best and accomplish as much as possible. He had been in the gifted and talented program, the Target program, the...

Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich speaks publicly about the Haditha killings for the first time with 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley.

INTERVIEW IS THIS SUNDAY! MARK YOUR CALENDARS. An exclusive "60 Minutes" (CBS) interview with Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich will air on March 18th, at 7p.m.(EST). Please watch, tell all your friends to watch, lend your support! God bless all of you!

MERIDEN - They've found their voice, and an online community that cares, prays and believes.Family members of accused Marine Staff Sgt. Frank D. Wuterich have started a web site to raise awareness of his case and bolster his defense. The site, www.frankwuterich.com, contains information on Wuterich, who grew up in Meriden, and on the November 2005 incident in Haditha, Iraq, for which he is under investigation in connection with the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians. Wuterich and seven other Marines were charged two months ago on counts ranging from murder to dereliction of duty.Wuterich, a 1998 Platt High School graduate,...