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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
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November 10th, 2006 - Squad Leader
In Iraqi Murder Case Called Popular, Loyal |
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Squad Leader In Iraqi Murder
Case Called Popular, Loyal Hutchins Described As Team Player Who Stood By Friends NBCSanDiego.com November 10, 2006 Plymouth, Mass. - Marine
Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins III faces charges including murder in the death of
a 52-year-old Iraqi. Hutchins is in jail awaiting trial at Camp Pendleton in
San Diego. But to those from Hutchins'
hometown, he's remembered as the kind of guy who stood by his friends,
fending off bullies and being a team player on and off the field. Hutchins was one of eight
servicemen charged in the death of Hashim Ibrahim Awad - the "Pendleton
8" as some defenders called them. All were But in recent weeks, two
fellow Marines and a Navy corpsman cut deals with prosecutors and testified
that their 22-year-old squad leader, the likable kid with the Boston accent,
was the ringleader. Prosecutors claim that on
April 26, the troops took Awad from his home in the Iraqi village of
Hamdania, tied him up, put him in a hole and shot him. They allegedly placed
an AK-47 in Awad's hands and put a shovel in the hole to make it appear Awad
was an insurgent planting explosives. Forty miles south of Boston,
family members, childhood friends and Plymouth South High School teammates
paint a different picture. They recall Hutchins entertaining his family on
the piano, working as a lifeguard on the beach a short walk from his home,
and sticking up for friends. Michelle Huxley doesn't
believe her friend is capable of doing what prosecutors allege he did that
April day in the Iraqi town of Hamdania. She recalls Hutchins -
popular and respected - coming to her defense when high school bullies picked
on her and her younger brother. "They backed off. Me
and my brother were the quiet ones. They pick on you because you're the good
kids. Larry didn't hit anybody, but he told them 'leave him alone,"' she
said. John Balchunas, one of
Hutchins' teammates on the Plymouth South baseball team, said Hutchins was
"a leader." He recalled Hutchins getting into "a couple of
scraps" in high school but was shocked to hear of the accusations. "He definitely wasn't
the type of kid in high school to fly off the handle," he said. He was no pushover, though.
In high school, he got into a fist fight with another teenager who had
insulted his girlfriend, according to his family and a high school friend.
That girlfriend, Reyna Griffin, is the mother of their 2-year-old daughter,
Kylie, and recently moved to California near Camp Pendleton. Hutchins, a 2002 graduate of
Plymouth South High School, signed up for the Marines as part of the delayed
entry program shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks. He came from a family of
Marines - his father and grandfather were both in that branch of the military
-- and by his senior year, he'd decided college wasn't in his immediate
future. Larry and Kathy Hutchins had
to approve because their son was still just 17 years old. After graduation,
he was off to recruit training at Parris Island, S.C. "He found a home,"
his father said. He seemed to volunteer and
complete every training program out there: survival and evasion, resistance
and escape schools. He was quickly elevated to the rank of sergeant. "Every school that he
could go to, he went to," said his younger brother, 21-year-old Kurt
Hutchins said. "He was a typical gung-ho Marine." Sitting at the dining room
table recently in the family's home in the Manomet section of town, Larry
Hutchins said he didn't think it was a good idea for his son to enlist in
2001, but he didn't try to talk him out of it. "I knew there were a
lot of problems brewing," he said. "Who wants to see their son or
daughter go to war? Was I crazy about the idea? No. Did I ever try to deter
him or talk him out of it, tell him it's crazy? No. It was his life to do
with as he wished, and that's what he wanted to do." Prosecutors claim Hutchins
orchestrated the plot. They have reached plea agreements with at least two
servicemen who subsequently testified that Hutchins was ringleader. Petty Officer 3rd Class
Melson J. Bacos, the Navy medic on patrol with the Marines, pleaded guilty
last month to lesser charges and was sentenced to one year in prison. Bacos then testified that the
squad was searching for a known insurgent who had been captured three times,
then released. Hutchins was "just mad that we kept letting him go and he
was a known terrorist," Bacos said. The group approached a house
where the insurgent was believed to be hiding, but when someone inside woke
up, the Marines instead went to another home and grabbed Awad, a former
policeman, Bacos testified. On Oct. 27, Marine Pfc. John
J. Jodka III pleaded guilty to lesser charges, and also provided damaging
testimony about Hutchins. Jodka said Hutchins ordered the troops to gather
the body and a shovel, put them in a body bag and take them to Iraqi police.
He then told troops "'You know what to say,"' Jodka testified. This past week, another
Marine in the case, Lance Cpl. Tyler A. Jackson, pleaded guilty to lesser
charges and testified that Hutchins was the ringleader. Rich Brannon, Hutchins'
attorney, has said that he did not believe Hutchins did anything wrong.
Brannon did not return calls seeking comment. However, defense lawyers
question the credibility of the Iraqis who reported the incident to U.S.
military officials, suggesting they may have been motivated by money or
sympathy for the insurgents. The Pentagon paid Awad's family an undisclosed
amount as compensation for the death, a fairly common practice when
noncombatants are killed. Larry Hutchins recently
returned from visiting his son at Pendleton, where he met Brannon and
discussed the case. He said the Iraqi who was killed was "no angel like
they're trying to make him out to be." "This guy wasn't your
innocent guy sitting at home having a cup of coffee," Hutchins said.
"It's all going to come out. There's proof. I've seen it." Kurt Hutchins, speaking of
the plea deals, recalled his older brother's words of assurance to his family
before he was deployed to Iraq in January. "He said don't worry
about it. The eight guys that I have are the best eight guys I could have
asked for," Kurt said. "He said I have the best men." Hutchins has "grown up
quick" in the past couple years, his father said. Hutchins and Griffin
became engaged over the brig phone, and are filing papers to get married. "He unfortunately was
away and didn't get to see his child that often. He's really happy that
they're out there and he's finally getting to bond more," Hutchins said
of weekend visits. "He loves the whole idea of fatherhood. They're
talking about another one, eventually." Kathy Hutchins said the
whole ordeal has soured her outlook. She said, "I can't even look at George
Bush. I was so naive. My son is the sacrificial lamb here. It's awful.
There's no way he would have ever with malice killed that man. He killed him
because he had to." She said her son isn't
interested in a plea deal. "He said, 'I'll stand
alone."' Her son was "so proud
to be a Marine," she said. She still looks at the dress blues uniform
hanging in Larry's closet. "I wonder, will he ever
wear it again?" Copyright 2006 by
NBCSandiego.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights
reserved. External link:
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/10294145/detail.html |