Marine pleads guilty to urinating on Afghan corpse

Thursday, January 17, 2013

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (AP) — A Marine who pleaded guilty Wednesday to urinating on the corpse of a dead Taliban fighter in Afghanistan will likely be demoted one rank under a plea agreement, although a military judge called for a much harsher sentence.

Staff Sgt. Edward W. Deptola pleaded guilty to multiple charges at court-martial, including dereliction of duty for desecrating remains, posing for photographs with the corpses and failing to properly supervise junior Marines.

The judge, Lt. Col Nicole Hudspeth, would have sentenced him to six months confinement, a $5,000 fine, demotion to private and a bad-conduct discharge. But she is bound by terms of the plea agreement the sergeant reached with military prosecutors. A general will review the sentence and could choose to lower it.

Deptola and another Marine based at Camp LeJeune were charged last year after video surfaced showing four Marines in full combat gear urinating on the bodies of three dead Afghans in July 2011. In the video, one of the Marines looked down at the bodies and quipped, “Have a good day, buddy.”

Deptola was sergeant for a scout sniper platoon. Though he had been previously deployed overseas, he was on his only combat deployment at the time. The Southold, N.Y., native is married with two children, but military officials declined to give his age.

The sergeant admitted to the judge that he urinated on one of the three corpses and posed in the “trophy photographs.” He said he failed to supervise the Marines under him when the desecration began, even though he had been briefed that such behavior violated a Marine Corps general order.

“I was in a position to stop it and I did not ... I should have spoken up on the spot,” he said.

When asked by the judge why he did it, Deptola said “I have no excuse, no reason, ma’am ... it was not the correct way to handle a human casualty.”

The sergeant described the day of the incident, saying the platoon had seen heavy action and had 11 confirmed kills, including the three men who were desecrated. Deptola said another sergeant in the platoon had been killed earlier that day by an IED, and the Marines believed the heavily armed Taliban fighters they killed could have been responsible for it.

Deptola’s African-American defense attorney, Maj. Tracey Holtshirley, called the case a “lynching” by the media and general public for an isolated mistake by a well-regarded Marine. He argued Deptola had already been punished enough by the attention and being removed from his platoon. He said he should be demoted two ranks to corporal.

Other Marines involved have received lower sentences. Staff Sgt. Joseph W. Chamblin pleaded guilty to similar charges last month. Under a deal reached before his court-martial, he lost $500 in pay and was reduced in rank to sergeant. Three other Marines were given administrative punishments for their roles.

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JCLifer 5 months ago

What a disgrace. This marine should have been given a commendation for his sacrifice fighting to protect our country and its freedom.

MO4LIFE 5 months ago

Sorry Lifer I don't agree only because what he did was ethically and morally wrong. We are better than that and i don't expect our vets to stoop to the level of the terrorists. It brought shame on our military and our country. I applaud his service to the country but i have a great disdain for the immoral activity he took part in.

Sequoia 5 months ago

Lifer hates thugs in J.C. But he loves them in the Marines. Maybe he's just reflexive, and decides to like or dislike things in response to what he thinks a "liberal" would say. A thug is a thug, and that's what these Marines are. This behavior reflects poorly on good Marines, and makes their job more dangerous.

Also, I wish people would stop referring to any punishment of a black person as a "lynching." It's an insult to the people who were victims of actual lynching. We shouldn't use words so carelessly.

copcamaro 5 months ago

Bravo Lifter: Unlike you, Sequoia, I dont believe or call the marines thugs!! per your own words above, ( lifter hates thugs in JC. but he loves them in the Marines) What a discrace you are to our military people who are protecting you and I. I do agree with your last sentence (we shouldn't use words so carelessly) Why don't you practice what YOU preach?

Sequoia 5 months ago

A criminal in uniform is still a criminal.

eileen10 5 months ago

I won't judge this man because Iv'e never walked in his shoes. Never have I seen my friends blown to bits. Do you think it's a tea party over there? Do you think the enemy says nice things about the dead Americans? I'm tired of us always being the good guys. It gets our people killed. We need to get a spine and let others know we won't be pushed around and if an enemy corpse is peed on? Sorry. Bad aim. Meant to pee on a bush. My grandson is over there. If he and his men were ambushed and his legs were blown off and he had the strength to pee on a dead enemy I would agree with what he did. To fight animals that view us as vile and corrupt, well, I believe in cave man tactics. I'm tired of us sticking our noses in other people's business. If thet have a war to fight let them fight it. If we are attacked then we fight. Enough of this good guy stuff. Being a super power doesn't mean we have to kiss butt. Let these countries know we aren't going to be pushed around. There's no reason I can see that we have to place ourselves above them. If they fight dirty...we should fight dirty and hang this business about being better or more couth. War is hell people.

connor 5 months ago

Well said Eileen. I agree actually. You cannot encourage such activity nor support it but making an example of an isolated incident like this and condemning a soldier for it is like handing out drunk and disorderly tickets during the superbowl to over excited fans.

Good attitude to have Eileen, but still doesn't make up for voting for Obummer :)

JCLifer 5 months ago

Whoever complained or ratted on this marine should face charges of providing aid and comfort to the enemy.

Pressing charges and holding a hearing on such a petty behavior was the next huge mistake.

asb 5 months ago

The person who ratted on this numskull should be commended for their bravery. But I think the YouTube video was enough to convict. If somebody you know get killed and has the Crescent carved on their face, or peed on (either is deseration by every religious, moral and military convention), you'd be a little less you.

MO4LIFE 5 months ago

they do hand out those tickets

eileen10 5 months ago

Hey connor! I had to laugh about the Obama throw in. Anyway, no doubt I'm seen as a Viking warrior which is ok with me. I come from brutal stock but I don't burn, rape or steal. And thanks for what you said. I know there are people who feel as I do but don't want to put it out there to be a subject of scorn. Pfffft. Everyone has a right to their thoughts and feelings.

asb 5 months ago

He's not being made an example of. Any American service person doing such disgraceful things, in violation of Christian and agreed-upon military ethics by all but the worsf of humanity, would be just as quickly punished by a just Courts Marshal. When the rats of Fallujah dragged the bodies of American mercenaries through the mud and hung their corpses, nobody assigned a score of just how beatial their crime was, it was disrespect of a human body, and brought a world-wide rage to bear (mostly by American Marines) in response. Reasons are not the same as excuses, and while his reasons may well explain the act, there was no excuse.

GrumpyGus 5 months ago

Sequoia, do you honestly believe any action in this world could make a Marine's job in a Mohammedan nation more dangerous? Your ignorance of how the world works is dwarfed only by your sanctimony.

The headline should read, "Non-uniformed terrorist gets what he deserves after killing a Marine with an IED because he was too cowardly to face the Marine in an honorable engagement."

GrumpyGus 5 months ago

asb - what a load of hooey. You must be willing to do to your enemy worse than they would do to you, otherwise you ensure defeat. Ask Israel. Their doctrine has always been (paraphrasing), we kill 100 of yours for every one of ours you kill. How do you stop a religious fanatic from fighting? By ensuring no quarter in his perceived afterlife.

We could bomb these savages back to the 7th century if we wanted to, but we don't because we are a moral people and value their women and children. The enemy uses those same women and children as shields. How do you fight someone like that that calls on their religion as an excuse for their actions? Remove their reward.

asb 5 months ago

When the Jews start peeing on their enemies, come back and say such foolishness. Of course fierce response is an effective weapon. Peeing on the dead is sick. And yes, the last thing we need is mayhem and brutality in the name of God, eh? When would you suggest we stop?

Sequoia 5 months ago

Gus, if you're saying that we must be willing to urinate on the corpses of our enemies, otherwise we ensure defeat, well... I wouldn't go on about other people's ignorance.

No one has explained how urinating on an enemy's corpse does any good at all. If our enemy is as religiously fanatic as you suggest, then I can't see how urinating on their corpses will cause them to surrender, or move us any closer to victory.

The military actually agrees with me. As the story suggests, these men violated orders. Those orders were there for a reason.

I am willing to cut some slack to the soldiers in the heat of the moment. Those of you who celebrate them after the fact will get no such quarter.

If the endgame of the so-called War on Terror is that we end up as savage as our enemies, then we've already lost. The Marines know this. That's why these men were punished.

JCLifer 5 months ago

All is fair in love and war.

John 5 months ago

Been there. Been shot at and missed, been shot at and hit. Have shot at others and missed and shot at others and hit.

Yes, adrenaline starts pumping. Yes, you (we) get angry when we get shot at or suffer other violence, whether it physically harms us or not. Yes, we want to respond in terrible ways that you cannot imagine. Yes, we resent it when our enemies do violent or rude things to our military members, whether to their dead bodies or to their live bodies (ask John McCain or many others).

However, there ARE pesky little things like, Rules of Engagement, Code of Conduct, and . . . here comes the biggie . . . . the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ).

This Marine's career is over. He has been convicted of a felony. He has brought shame upon himself, his fellow Marines, the military in general and, by extension, the United States of America.

It does not matter whether you agree or not. He was found guilty. . . . that pesky thing called the UCMJ.

Semper Fi to all my brothers (and sisters)

eileen10 5 months ago

I know. My husband was a career Air Force man. I chose to ignore it. The UCMJ that is. When the military lied about agent orange and vets started to die because of it I chose to go my own way. I can only hope that man will never feel remourse. I see no shame but that is of course not how everyone feels and I respect that. I just don't happen to agree with certain things about the military and how they operate.

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