"They ranged from little babies to adult males and females.
I'll never be able to get that out of my head. I can still smell the blood.
This left something in my head and heart."
-Lance Cpl. Roel Ryan Briones
Last
week, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich was sentenced to a reduction in rank
but no jail time for leading his squad in a rampage known as “The
Haditha Massacre.” Wuterich, who was charged with nine counts of
manslaughter, pled guilty to dereliction of duty. Six other Marines have
had their charges dismissed and another was acquitted for his part in
the massacre.
What was the Haditha
Massacre? On November 19, 2005, US Marines from Kilo Company, Third
Battalion, First Marine Division killed 24 unarmed civilians in Haditha,
Iraq, execution-style, in a three to five hour rampage. One victim was a
76-year-old amputee in a wheelchair holding a Koran. A mother and
child bent over as if in prayer were also among the fallen. "I pretended
that I was dead when my brother's body fell on me and he was bleeding
like a faucet," said Safa Younis Salim, a 13-year-old girl who survived
by faking her death. Other victims included six children ranging in age
from 1 to 14. Citing doctors at Haditha’s hospital, The Washington Post
reported, "Most of the shots ... were fired at such close range that
they went through the bodies of the family members and plowed into walls
or the floor."
