I have disturbing news to tell you.  Today, the second of 3 Marines accused 

in the hazing death of my nephew, Lance Corporal Harry Lew, was found "not guilty," and therefore, will go entirely unpunished.

The not guilty verdict in Sgt. John's trial twists the knife even further into the wounds that were caused by Harry's hazing death.  It is outrageous and a travesty of justice.  It was an upset Sgt. Johns that led two lance corporals, Harry's peers, to take matters into their own hands and assault him for 3 ½ hours,  leading Harry to commit suicide 20 minutes later. Yet the military does not hold Sgt. Johns responsible for any of this.

This verdict shows that hazing in the military is not only accepted but in fact, imbedded very deeply into its culture, including the jury, which was comprised entirely of fellow Marines.  This not guilty verdict comes after a light jail sentence of one month against Lance Corporal Jacoby, who did most of the physical assault.  All the pronouncements made by the military officials that hazing is officially prohibited are empty words.  The real message from these two verdicts is that the Marines will let violent assaults continue unabated against soldiers who are supposed to be fighting on the same side of the war.

The military trial is set up in such a way as to make justice nearly impossible.  The issue of the suicide was not even allowed to be included in the trial.  The witnesses who testified about Sgt. John's good behavior still serve under him.  The jury was comprised entirely of Marines; this is like having Bernie Madoff tried by a jury comprised entirely of Wall Street CEO's. You can only imagine what the verdict will be for the third marine on Feb 21st.   

To read the entire story about today's verdict, click on this link:

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MARINES_ALLEGED_HAZING?SITE=RIPRJ&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT