There's been a lot of attention, rightly so, on the death of Army Private Danny Chen. Meanwhile, one the Marines who took part in the hazing of Lance Cpl. Harry Lew before he committed suicide, has pleaded guilty: Marine admits hazing California Marine who committed suicide in Afghanistan.Lance Cpl. Jacob Jacoby, who pleaded guilty to assault, was sentenced to thirty days in jail and will have his rank reduced to private first class. He admitted to punching and kicking Lew, apparently out of frustration that Lew repeatedly fell asleep while on watch:
Jacoby, one of three Marines accused of hazing, told a judge he wanted to talk to Lew to find out why he kept falling asleep and to help him stay awake. Jacoby said he got angry when Lew spoke to him in a disrespectful manner, even though Lew was putting the lives of the Marines at their patrol base in danger by dozing off.The judge in Jacoby's court martial said that she found no evidence that the abuse led to Lew's suicide. Seriously? So three of his fellow Marines beat the crap out of him, and then Harry Lew independently came to the decision to kill himself? I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around that. More here: Marine sentenced to 30 days in jail, reduced rank, in alleged hazing suicide.
Squad members and officers had previously tried different methods to get Lew to stay awake, but on Lew's last night, when he fell asleep again, those efforts escalated into alleged acts of violence and humiliation, according to the charges. The Marines were accused of punching and kicking him, making him do pushups and pouring sand in his face.