Bones of the Lost(50)

I read a directive from Andrews that the Gross matter be referred to the NCIS field office for an investigation into possible felony charges.

I got up for a stretch and shoulder roll. Then I turned to the NCIS scene investigation file.

Two things struck me immediately. First, the file was remarkably thin for an incident potentially leading to felony charges. Second, the special agent directing the scene investigation had not been Blanton. Somehow, that gave me more confidence.

As I worked my way through, I understood why the file was so sparse. By the time an NCIS site visit could be arranged, there was little to inspect. The bodies had been buried and the scene had been cleaned, then trampled by normal day-to-day activity.

One village elder produced thirty M16 shell casings and pointed out the area from which they’d been retrieved. The investigative team photographed damage to the wall where the RPG had landed, collected metal fragments blown from the Humvee, took telescopic photos of pockmarking on the hillside, and dug a handful of .50-cal slugs from the soft rock.

NCIS interpreters conducted interviews, but no one had witnessed the actual shooting. Everyone questioned told the same story. The dead were good men. No insurgents in village. No explosives. No bad weapons, just rifles for protection against thieves. Insurgents on the hill had come, then gone. Marines killed boy. Very bad thing.

Permission for an exhumation was repeatedly denied. With no bodies and no witnesses, that left only the scene examination report and statements from members of Gross’s platoon.

Distilling the statements of the marines and the NCIS investigation down to the basics, a couple of facts stood out. One, the two witnesses to the shooting told conflicting stories. Two, rounds had struck the LNs either in the front or in the back.

I understood the importance of the exhumation. Wondered what Gross was thinking. Clearly he knew.

Perhaps because Eggers had no stake in the outcome, his statement carried enough weight to compel Colonel Andrews to prefer charges against Gross for murder and for conduct unbecoming an officer.

Yep, I thought, murder surely is unbecoming.

I read the DD Form 458s, the military charge sheets. The first identified the accused as Second Lieutenant John Gross, and alleged violations of the UCMJ Article 118 and UCMJ Article 133.

The specifications under 118 read: “That in Sheyn Bagh, Helmand Province, Republic of Afghanistan, the accused did unlawfully murder one Ahmad Ali Aqsaee, an Afghan national by shooting him multiple times with an M16 automatic weapon.” It provided the time and date of the incident.

The specification under 133 referred to the same time and place but alleged that the accused engaged in conduct unbecoming an officer in unlawfully shooting said Ahmad Ali Aqsaee.

The second 458 alleged identical offenses as to one Abdul Khalik Rasekh. Both forms were signed by Colonel Andrews.

The chronology showed that after Colonel Andrews preferred charges, RCT 6 rotated back to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, home of the Second Marine Division.

Once at Lejeune, Colonel Andrews appointed Lieutenant Colonel Frank Keever as Article 32 investigating officer and detailed Major Christopher Nelson as government counsel and Major Joseph Hawthorn as counsel for the accused.

Lieutenant Colonel Keever called the Article 32 hearing into session two months after RCT 6 returned to Lejeune. The file contained a transcript of the proceedings. I skimmed through it.

Hawthorn made a motion for continuance until an exhumation could be performed. Nelson objected, saying no exhumation was likely. There was discussion, after which Keever denied the motion.

The government’s first witness was Grant Eggers, now out of the military. His testimony seemed in agreement with the statements he’d made to Gunny Sharp and the NCIS special agents.

To satisfy my curiosity, I read the portion of Hawthorn’s cross-examination dealing with Eggers’s motivation in accusing Gross.

Hawthorn: You’re a civilian?

Eggers: Yes, sir.

Hawthorn: Is the reason you did not re-up the fact that Lt. Gross gave you a poor performance evaluation and told you that he would oppose your promotion to sergeant?

Eggers: No, sir. He did tell me that, but it was not the reason I did not reenlist.

Hawthorn: He demoted you, didn’t he?

Eggers: No, sir. He reassigned me from fire team leader to SAW gunner, but I still had the same rank and pay.

Hawthorn: No one else in your platoon said they’d seen the LNs shot in the back, did they?

Eggers: No one else was in a position to see it.

Hawthorn: Did you actually see rounds strike those men in their backs?

Eggers: That’s how it appeared to me, sir. They were being spun around by the impact of the bullets, but it looked like they were hit in the back.

Hawthorn: Would you describe Lt. Gross as a liar?