Exonerated officer quits Marine Corps

The Washington Times Insider ^ | June 4, 2005 | Rowan Scarborough

[Banjoguy]

Second Lt. Ilario Pantano announced his resignation from the Marine Corps yesterday, a week after he was cleared of charges of murdering two Iraqi insurgents in the "triangle of death" south of Baghdad. [....]

[....]Lt. Pantano is giving up a commission that had become one of the many symbols of patriotic duty in America. The Corps does not usually accept 31-year-old officer candidates, but the Manhattan native was determined to rejoin the Corps after al Qaeda's September 11 attacks. He talked his way back in, excelled at infantry training and won command of a 35-man platoon that went to Iraq last year. Lt. Pantano had served as a Marine enlisted man in the 1991 Gulf war. The Corps had charged Lt. Pantano with two counts of murder that could have brought the death penalty if convicted at a court-martial. He told investigators he shot the two Iraqi men in self-defense after a raid on an insurgent hide-out. [....]

[RAY]

Lt. Patano had a screw loose and did not serve as good example for his troops or for us.

We hesitate to be critical of those who serve, and not being a combat veteran, I hesitated to say the above, but you did and I’m inclined to agree. I also, suspect that Lt. Patano received a strong suggestion (a deal in return for dropping the charges) from the Marine Corp that it would be best for him to leave.

It seems, absolutely nothing positive for the USA was realize by continuing to shoot lifeless bodies - a senseless and poor example for a combat leader and a representative of the USA. Save your ammunition for those live bodies that continue to represent a danger. To say the least, one would have to have lost it to shoot a lifeless body 60 times. Not a good example for those whom he commands or fights to liberate.

We can sympathize with the Lt. for being under the stress of combat and applaud his desire to server. However, we can not let our leaders act in such a senseless way. I may, in the same circumstances have had the same impulse as the Lt., but that would not have made it right. I also applaud Sgt Coburn who correctly reported this bizarre action.

I'm all for killing the enemy and making sure they don't present any additional risk, but 60 shoots to each body, it seems, suggested an irrational nature that could also be dangerous to those under his command and detrimental to the principles and image for which we wish this country stand.

My wish is that the soon to be “Mr” Patano can go on with his life, live a good life, and will represent no danger to those with whom he is in contact.

[cynicom]

Stop sending up a smoke cloud to obscure your assertion that the man was unstable. You made that charge, no one else, and it was you that was not there.

I claimed nothing, you did. Your experience has nothing to do with judging a man "unstable" when you were not there, and also most likely had nothing to do with the investigation. If you were in anyway involved in the investigation, perhaps you could indulge us with the information that led you to judge the man "unstable'...

[USMCVet]

Thanks for your comments - and I also have to say that I'm particularly proud of the Marine Corps for openly investigating and then dealing with this situation.

The Marine Corps has always had a single standard for discipline and that has always been one of the keys to its success.

Covering up errors or crimes just because "one of ours" did it doesn't help anyone and corrodes the moral center of an organization and its ability to carry out its mission.

Semper Fi

[PGalt]

Thanks Lt. Patano for battling foreign enemies.
Domestic enemies are much harder to defeat.

[Malesherbes]

The man is a patriot. It's the Marines' loss.

[squirt-gun]

Re your # 7....

Your post sums it up pretty well for those who have followed this entire saga. However, The Corps did the right thing by letting him off.

The American media are the real scumbags by using this unfortunate "incident" to furthur undernmine the military.

[USMCVet]

I see that you are up to your usual standard of quality response, Cynicom...

All of what I cite comes from the same open sources available to you:

1. That Lt. Pantano shot two suspected insurgents AFTER he had the Corpsman remove the flexicuffs from the suspects (that in itself proof that he could reasonably assume that they weren't armed)

2. That while the suspected insurgents attempted to run away, Lt. Pantano shot them 45-60 times with an M-16A4 rifle (not a T/O weapon for a Marine 2ndLt - his T/O weapon was the M-9 pistol)

3. Firing 45-60 shots required a magazine change for that weapon - while the suspected insurgents were already down

4. No other Marine present fired a shot at the two individuals

5. Lt. Pantano then constructed a sign and displayed it on the suspected insurgent's dead bodies.

Even given that you probably haven't spent a day in uniform, doesn't that demonstrate instability to you? - or are you just going to be the old Cynicom you always are?

[Non-Sequitur]

How can he just resign? I thought that there was a stop-loss on that froze discharges. What does this say to all the enlisted that have reached the end of their enlistments but can't get out?

[Smokin' Joe]

I have never been in combat, but 60 rounds, (or 40, whatever) seemed like a lot, and having to reload at that range tripped a flag. Thanks for clearing that up.

[OldFriend]

What a sad commentary. There really are no words to express our disappointment in the very fact that this case was ever brought against this hero.

[squirt-gun]

Regarding #25.

Don't let emotion trump facts.

Please read # 28 carefully and with an open mind and see if you and the others applauding this marine officer still think he did the right thing and is above reproach.

[OldFriend]

Well, I guess you would have preferred that he ask the men to join him in singing kumbaya.

Heaven help anyone who had to serve in combat along side the likes of you.

[R. Scott]

I can’t blame the Lieutenant.
About 25 years ago we had a good Buck Sargent (E-5) on the list to make Staff. He was knowledgeable, a good leader and very straight-laced. He showed positive on a drug test and was busted to PFC. His attitude immediately went to hell. When he was near his discharge date a letter came down saying his drug test was a false positive. I was ordered to talk him into reenlisting. When I mentioned the bust I was told he would be put on the top of the list for promotion to Specialist E-4. I tried – I really did. For about 2 or 3 minutes.
Too often our military’s efforts to make Congress happy result in good people leaving. In this case the drug test used was about 90% accurate – meaning that 1 in 10 results would be false. Drug users might skate, and those who didn’t use would be nailed.
But we Had to DO SOMETHING! ANYTHING! about illegal drug abuse.

[Dick Vomer]

Don't bother with the "you can't know because you weren't there" junk: I have served in combat and for a lot longer than Lt. Patano.

Well, if you've been in combat then you know that feeling of just overwhelming, gut wrenching, tear inducing,screaming inside your head , anger and frustration feeling of seeing your men blown into chunks of goo. Holding your brother while he dies or seeing him packed off like a lump of meat. Then after a firefight and the quick mop up how the adrenalin and all those emotions are bound up. It's embarrassing to think of how much of an animal you turn into, to even try to explain it to people. Cause in the calm of an office or even 100 yards away from the firefight you become a human being again.

Then you see two men that probably had a lot to do with what just happened and will continue to happen to your men, who you love more than your own brother.... and then they give you a frickin excuse to kill them. We both know that all it takes is one bullet to kill a man, but if "anybody else" is looking 60 rounds makes a statement.

I don't know what the unit structure and deployment was on that night... he might not have had an NCO nearby or he was operating from the front like they teach them to do at OCS..... but the only one that reported him was an NCO that he sh#tcanned for being a crappy Marine.

Now if somebody in a forward unit is going to "get you" on a regulation or have charges brought up on you, it's not hard to find a violation of the rules of engagement.

My question is why was the Sgt the ONLY one to bring it up and the rest of the platoon didn't back him?

Since you've served in "combat" and seen the elephant, you know the answer already. It's not a frickin mystery sir.

I will bet you Coburn never serves with that unit in a forward area again. He will walk into a rotor blade, have a accidental discharge, truck accident, or just have a "problem" in the field. He's a low life, that thought he could get his LT. and skate away. He might have done this in order to get out of a forward area.... what does he care then?

The Lt. is now labeled a murderer..... don't think that won't "stick" to him either. He's ruined.

In combat there are things that happen and that we've done that nobody is proud of..... scary, horrible, nasty, brave, cowardly, proud, insane, stupid and smart things....

I pray that my son never has to be in a Marine Corp that would hang him out like they did this man. He was lucky as hell that JAG and the investigating officer were being publicly followed by the media and his wife.

God help the next Marine that has to make a split second decision and hesitates because he thinks he may get brought up on charges....

[USMCVet]

The men who served alongside me did just fine... sounds like I was lucky not to have "the likes of you" anywhere near me!

There are very well laid out procedures for dealing with the situation that Lt. Pantano faced - including shooting the men, if he judged it necessary.

The squirrelly 45-60 rounds fired and the sign-hanging episode illuminate the instability of the lieutenant's mental state and his poor exapmple of leadership for his men.

I'll leave the singing of Kumbaya to people like you..

[PGalt]

Thanks for the ping. I'll try and get back late today. Off to work (both jobs).

[OldFriend]

Don't you know. It's not nice to shoot terrorists as they are running away.

Never mind that their car was filled with weapons and bombs to KILL Americans.

Of course they were running away, and I thank the Lord that they were shot dead, dead, DEAD.

[verity]

The Corps will be a better place without Patano.
The Army, in the 60's, would have been better off without a Lt. Calley.

[Dick Vomer]

By the way.... I agree with you. I just don't like judging a man in combat with a discredited NCO reporting him as the only one. It just doesn't sound right.

I know that an officer has to lead by example and curb the beast within in order to be an effective leader.

I just think that they've seen the bodies mutilated, the beheadings, the wounded and killed Marines and he very well could have just lost his sh#t. Maybe the Marine Corp planned on nipping the "payback" in the bud and made an example out of this guy.

I'd still rather be in a "meat eating" hunting platoon than anything else.... cause I'd rather hunt than be hunted.... Rather than manning a post or riding a truck in a convoy.