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CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - Military officials say a decorated Marine from Minnesota has been killed in a parachute training exercise at Camp Pendleton. A Marine Corps statement says Corporal Ryan L. Pape died Thursday night from injuries sustained during a low-level static line jump.

With 15 miles (25km) of pristine, undeveloped beachfront property in southern California, it is difficult to imagine wanting to live anywhere else. But for many of the marines at Camp Pendleton, one place beckons above all others. "Afghanistan," says Lance Cpl Alejandra Esqueda, when asked where she would like to be deployed next. "I actually look forward to it. I'm hopefully going to Afghanistan to finish what we got to do there… I've already been to Iraq. Afghanistan is the new place to be." Thirst for action Lance Cpl Esqueda is one of hundreds of marines on the beach preparing...

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — The government has dropped a murder charge against a Marine who pleaded guilty Tuesday to dereliction of duty for killing an unarmed Iraqi detainee during a battle to recapture the city of Fallujah. If convicted of murder, Sgt. Jermaine Nelson could have faced a maximum sentence of life in prison and a dishonorable discharge. Instead, he now faces a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a bad conduct discharge – one grade less than dishonorable. Defense attorney Joseph Low told reporters the plea agreement says Nelson will not serve any prison time and will...

CAMP PENDLETON ---- The murder and dereliction of duty trial for the last of three defendants charged with killing an unarmed detainee during a 2004 battle for what was then the insurgent-held Iraqi city of Fallujah gets under way Tuesday in a base courtroom. Sgt. Jermaine Nelson is accused of killing an unnamed detainee he and members of his Camp Pendleton squad captured in the opening hours of the battle that began on Nov. 9, 2004. Two co-defendants, former Marine sergeants Ryan Weemer and Jose L. Nazario Jr., were acquitted in separate trials for the same alleged offense. (snip) Nazario,...

SAN DIEGO - The Pentagon released the name Wednesday of a 30-year-old Camp Pendleton-based Marine Corps officer killed in combat in Afghanistan. Capt. Joshua Meadows of Bastrop, Texas, died in Farah Province on Saturday, according to the Department of Defense. Meadows was a member of 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion, Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command.

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...

CAMP PENDLETON ---- While artillery men generally consider blowing things up a slice of heaven, the loud booms emanating from Camp Pendleton day and night of late has left many outside the gates saying they are experiencing a slice of hell. "I don't object to noise during normal hours and I don't mind it up until about 10 p.m., but they need to have a little consideration for people who need peace and quiet so they can sleep," said Allen Mortend, a longtime Oceanside resident who lives just outside the base gates. Base officials say they have received dozens of...

EXCLUSIVE: Anguish continues for parents of convicted Marine Larry and Kathi Hutchins are still in a nightmarish world that began in 2006 when they learned their son and his squad of Camp Pendleton Marines were charged with kidnapping and killing an Iraqi civilian. "It's been hard because we haven't been able to protect our child," Kathi Hutchins said during an interview just outside the military base's gates Friday. "But we'll be there forever for him." On Tuesday, former Sgt. and now Pvt. Larry Hutchins III is due back inside a Camp Pendleton courtroom for the first time since he was...

Animal-rights activists plan to protest today against Camp Pendleton's use of live pigs in medical training for troops that they argue is antiquated and cruel but officials call life-saving. The demonstration comes on the heels of published reports that the base last week trained Marines at an avocado ranch in northeastern San Diego County owned by a retired Marine who is also an Escondido police officer. During the training, according to news accounts, 2- to 3-month-old pigs ranging from 140 to 200 pounds were sedated before instructors used scalpels to inflict wounds and then watched as Marines worked to keep...

A group of retired Marines is rallying behind Sgt. Jermaine Nelson, the last of three Marines to face trial in the killing of unarmed prisoners during a battle in Fallouja, Iraq, in November 2004. Two other defendants have been found innocent: former Sgt. Jose Nazario in federal court in August, and Sgt. Ryan Weemer in a court-martial at Camp Pendleton in April. Nelson's case is set for a pretrial hearing Monday at Camp Pendleton. He stands accused of unpremeditated murder and dereliction of duty. Calls for the charges to be dropped have come from retired Col. G.I. Wilson; William McNulty...

Marine free after conviction tossed out Rape charge led to decade in prison By Rick Rogers (Contact) Union-Tribune Staff Writer 2:00 a.m. March 14, 2009 Brian Foster After spending a decade behind bars, a former Camp Pendleton Marine is now a free man because a military appeals court ruled that “a muddled, hearsay-based case” caused his spousal-rape conviction. But anyone who thinks Brian Foster is bitter would be wrong. As Foster left the prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., on Feb. 20, he picked up his sergeant stripes and spoke candidly with his superiors. “I told (them) I was happy to...

A military jury on Thursday acquitted a Marine sergeant on charges of murdering an unarmed detainee during battle in Fallujah, Iraq.

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. – A military jury has acquitted an Illinois Marine sergeant on charges of murdering an unarmed detainee during battle in Fallujah, Iraq. The jury of eight Marines who served in Iraq or Afghanistan also acquitted Sgt. Ryan Weemer on Thursday of dereliction of duty in the November 2004 death.

Gunny G Inquiry: Re POTUS Richard M. Nixon At Pendleton Parade Ground - Fallen Through The Cracks of History? Re Overjoyed troops swarm Obama as he makes first presidential visit to Baghdad http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2224637/posts ***** Re POTUS Richard M. Nixon At Pendleton Parade Ground - Fallen Through The Cracks of History? Well….let me just say I have some doubts as to the above “Baghdad” headline… But it does serve to remind me of April 30, 1971–I think that date is correct, and the occasion was probably the return of the 1st Marine Division to Camp Pendleton, California from the RVN. Does...

CAMP PENDLETON ----- Eight Marine Corps officers are weighing the fate of a sergeant accused of killing an Iraqi insurgent prisoner of war in what a prosecutor acknowledged is a "tough case." The panel is deciding whether 26-year-old Sgt. Ryan Weemer committed murder, as the prosecution alleges, or acted in self-defense, as the Illinois native's attorney contends. At minimum, prosecutor Capt. Nicholas Gannon told jurors Wednesday that Weemer is guilty of voluntary manslaughter in the 2004 incident that occurred in the opening hours of an intense, door-to-door fight for the Anbar province city of Fallujah.

CAMP PENDLETON ---- After failing to convict the first of three men to face trial in the alleged slaying of four insurgents in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2004, authorities will try again next week when Sgt. Ryan Weemer goes on trial. Weemer, the man at the center of the case, faces charges of unpremeditated murder and failing to adhere to the military's rules governing the treatment of captured enemy combatants. He has pleaded not guilty. Weemer was part of a squad from the base's 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment that is alleged to have encountered four suspected insurgents during the search...

After spending a decade behind bars, a former Camp Pendleton Marine is now a free man because a military appeals court ruled that “a muddled, hearsay-based case” caused his spousal-rape conviction. But anyone who thinks Brian Foster is bitter would be wrong. As Foster left the prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., on Feb. 20, he picked up his sergeant stripes and spoke candidly with his superiors. “I told (them) I was happy to be back in the Marine Corps and that I'll go anywhere and do anything the Marine Corps wants me to,” Foster, 35, said during a phone interview...

Finding supports rights of press over prosecutor's desire for all of '60 Minutes' Wuterich interview CAMP PENDLETON ---- CBS prevailed Thursday in a battle with Marine prosecutors who wanted all the network's unaired tapes from an interview with the key figure in the killing of 24 Iraqi civilians in 2005. A military judge granted the network's request to deny a subpoena seeking all the outtakes from a "60 Minutes" interview with Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich first broadcast in 2007. The judge, Lt. Col. Jeffrey Meeks, ruled that forcing the network to hand over that material would place the network in...

Pentagon officials looking at possible relocation sites for Guantanamo detainees toured California’s Camp Pendleton brig on Dec. 11, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Tuesday. Republican congressman Duncan Hunter told the paper that Marine commanders told him about the Dec. 11 inspection. The freshman congressman, who served combat duty in Iraq and Afghanistan before leaving the Marine Corps in December 2007, has introduced a bill to bar the transfer of terrorism suspects from Guantanamo to San Diego County. "To find out about the visit [to Camp Pendleton] from the Marine Corps and not the Department of Defense tells me they are...