FREEPER EXCLUSIVE: LETTER FROM PENDLETON 8 MOTHER

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I just returned home from Oceanside today after experiencing many many car problems en route. However, all of those were overshadowed by my sons apparent loss of his sense of self. After arriving late, the conversation got very quickly to what was bothering him this Saturday. He is loosing hope. He is loosing faith. Faith in the Marines, but more importantly faith in the system. His health is at serious risk right now. He is under constant harassment not only from the NCIS investigators, but from the prosecution. The games that are being played with the approval of the Marine Command are haneous and hideous to say the least. When a young man receives an injury three years ago, at SOI training, and still is being jacked around by the Marine Physicians, it truly is something to be ashamed of. He injured his shoulder and needs and has been ordered to have an MRI by his attending physician, as no one can identify the problem without one. However, they keep putting him off, month after month, sending him back to physical therapy, offering him mind altering pain killers. Finally, after enduring so much pain outside the pain in his mind, he demanded to know why he wasn't getting the MRI as ordered. The response was this: ' You are in the brig for murder. You could be getting a death sentence, or at least life in prison. We will not go ahead with the MRI until the outcome is known.' In otherwords, telling him 'why waste the effort'???

Then there is all the continued leaks to the press about every single detail of my sons defense. And the details of others as well. Is the person(s) responsible for this terror that far up on the totem pole, he goes unquestioned? How? Why?

You know at this point in time, there is no other conclusion except this: Someone somewhere is going to kill these young men one way or the other. But the question always comes back to why? It was one man, a liar at best, with an automatic weapon and ammunition in his home (no innocent civilian), and they had approval from command. Versus the Hidatha incident.....many women and children massacred, and all of those men received the heroes homecoming and are still walking the streets. Why this group of extremely dedicated Marines. And, why so blatantly and arrogantly ignoring all of the laws of the land, as well as the Uniform Code of Military Justice. And, each and every judge that has presided over any proceedings thus far, is an accomplice. Why? Because he is blatantly and ignorantly looking the other way at all of the illegalities, at all of the crimes against these men. Isn't there even one Marine left in a positiion of authority, with the guts and the fortitude to stand up and say "STOP THIS NONESENSE"? And be heard? Because our sole hope that lay in General Mattis, has all but fallen off the end of the dock. His silence is deafening. He cannot think for one minute, he is not responsible for the goings on right under his nose, can he?

These men were held for weeks without being charged. They were interrogated by even the lowest methods known, without the benefit of audio or video record. Then have a pretyped statement pushed in front of them after hours upon hours of questioning, for them to sign. And no legal counsel provided, even when after hours of requesting one. Even weeks, actually. They have been handcuffed, shackled, and prejudged by the sloppy leaks made by the Pentagon. They were not given the due process of law. Not given a speedy trial. Their legal counsels (both military and civilian) were denied ready access to evidence. The legal proceedings were basically broadcast to the public, so as to further taint any jury pool. They are not going to be able to face their accusers. The legal counsels cannot question at will any residents of the area, nor view the crime site. They have been held basically against the very Bible for the Marines, The Uniform Code of Military Justice. Their personal and those of their families personal letters via the internet have been compromised. The phones in their homes tapped, at the very least eavesdropped upon. Visitation to the brig is beyond comprehension on every level, newborn babies or 90 year old grandparents, it doesn't matter. U.S.Mail tampered with on an ongoing basis. A considerable amount never showing up, either delivered or returned to its sender. Communication with legal and family has been all but weak, to say the least. The threats of death from other inmates continue for both the men and their families. They are still in solitary confinement, after over 5 months! They were provided little trained, to say the least, military counsel, forcing families to go bankrupt in effect so as to retain a good lawyer. Basic health issues not addressed. And, this is saying nothing of the continued mind games that are a part of every second of life for these men.

Where else can you find treatment such as these men are receiving at the hands of the Marine Command? No pillow, no blankets, until just last week. Most,if not all, are showing serious signs of PTS and more. But nothing is being done. They weren't debriefed or offered counseling professionals, as most returning from Iraq were, They are treated as if they aren't even there, invisible for all intents and purposes.

I remember Viet Nam as if it was yesterday. And, I still continue to do some work with the PTS victims from Palo Alto VA Hospital. And, the blank, empty eyes of those men, is nothing compared to what I see in these remaining 7 mens eyes. One time they are so dead, it is heartbreaking. The next, there is a veil over them, as if to hide the pain. The next there is total resignation that comes from loosing sight of all hope. Or at times, he sits with you at visitation, yet his eyes and his mind are a thousand miles away, not even hearing you. Gone for weeks now, is the anger, which can be a lifesaver at times. Gone is the hope for a sparkle or twinkle in their eyes. If only God would grant me a real laugh from him. I would be so deeply grateful.

Families of these men are suffering as well. Beyond belief. There are those of us who have turned a little more often to the cocktails to ease the pain. There are parents who have totally withdrawn from the scenario entirely, because they can't stand the pain anymore. There are those who have turned to prescription drugs to help ease the pain. There are the daily bouts with chest pains that never were. The endless lists of surgeries and health ailments that arise daily for all. There are the endless sleepless nights of all of us. Praying, and afraid to even allow for the thought that this isn't just a nightmare, and we will all wake up soon. Families spending every last penny to talk to their son on the phone. Families spending every last penny to travel the thousands of miles to see their loved ones for maybe 4 hours total. Some have even sent their offspring to Oceanside to reside, so as to be closer to their sons. And the remaining siblings of these heroes? They suffer immeasurably. They don't have their brother or their parents, in effect. Because both are in Oceanside, if not in body, then in mind!

Us parents walk side by side, but at times are afraid to hold the outstretched hand or take the well meaning hug from another. We have become just as distrustful as our sons. Is this possibly the parent of the next one who will put yet another nail in our sons coffins by agreeing to a lie, to save their own skin? Just how much is too much for these men, these Marines to handle before they snap? Every single human that walks this earth has a breaking point. And, I'll be damned if the prosecution and/or NCIS isn't going to continue this fiasco until they find it for each and every one.

How can anyone ever survive this? I mean truly have a life worth living on the other side? My son and the others feel as if this stigma will haunt him for life, no matter what the outcome. What parent in their right minds would give their daughter's hand in marriage to a man of this sort of notority? How will he be able to make a living? How can he ever hold his head up high? There are always those few who will find it their job to taunt these men forever, to make themselves feel BIG.

My son has all but deleted any kind of visitation list, except immediate family. He says

'Mom, why drag everyone down into this hell? They have better things to do.' 'And besides, I don't know who to trust and who not to.'

I was not trained to be a Marine. I cannot turn off my mind. I can think of nothing else, no matter how hard I try. I am a strong willed woman, who has never used the word 'can't' until now. Never. But now it is in every other thing that comes out of my mouth, it seems.

My son jokes (sort of) that he is loosing his hair. He is. He jokes (sort of) that he can't keep his food down. He can't. He jokes (sort of) as he says that he 'tried so hard, and did everything according the the book, why me, mom? I am a good Marine. All of these men are good Marines.' They are. He jokes (sort of) that it will be kind of hard to find a wife and have babies from the brig, because that is where he thinks he will live forever, if he doesn't die first. It will be hard to find a bride. He says he and the others are being railroaded. They just don't know by whom. They can't even have a casual visit from their brothers who are now home with the 3/5....there is a direct order to have no contact with these 'criminals'!!! When was that judgement passed down and deemed 'criminals'?

So you see when I say my son has lost his sense of self, I mean he has lost all his hopes for a better tomorrow. He doesn't know whom to trust, if anyone. He doesn't know what the outcome will be. BUT HE DOES KNOW THIS: HE DID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG, AND HE PRAYS EVERY SINGLE MINUTE THAT HE GETS A CHANCE TO TELL THE WORLD HIS STORY. But, as the days progress with no hope, as always, he is beginning to think that there will never be a trial, he will never get to tell his story, and everything he strived to do 'by the book' will be for nothing. He has to lay his life on the line every day to defend the laws and people of this country, and he does so willingly, gladly. But yet, he is denied the rights that are provided for by those laws, because he is military? How sad is this?

I love my son, but I don't know how much more I can sit by and watch him slowly and painfully loose his mind......and do so at the hands and approval of the Marines and their Commandant. Loose his sense of self! The new goal of the New Marine Corp, I guess.

Leanne

P.S. Another unfortunate personality attribute that comes from all of this, is the loss of focus.....the reason I originally started to write you, XXXX, was that I received in the mail today, the copies of the correspondance you faxed to Gen. Mattis. I am sorry for the misunderstanding, I truly am. And shouldn't you by Marine procedure, have received a response from him by now? What is happening to our military? To our government? To our way of life as we know it?

Step 1: chase almost everyone away
Step 2: complain you're lonesome

OK, which is this lad gonna do, continue to be macho or to concede he needs all the help he can get.

Assuming the mom has the story even halfway straight.

Thank you, Race. There is no excuse for this kind of treatment. There would not be, even if the men were guilty. And from all appearances, they are only being harrassed and maltreated like this because their superiors screwed up, and don't want to admit it.

Who is his congressman? Can nothing be done to give these falsely abused men some relief? This is inexcusable.

Another Cindy Sheehan in our midst? You'd think someone would be interested in preventing that.

The 'Pendleton 8

Race, this smells like heavy BS to me.

Too many problems. Too many adjectives and adverbs. Too many "incidents" that would easily lead to reversible error.

Innocent or guilty, a mother will suffer with her child.

Michelle Malkin wrote about these 8 back in June.
http://michellemalkin.com/archives/005385.htm

MB, this is the real deal.

I cant tell you how I know, but it is real.

I have been getting updates once in a while, and nothing has changed.

To this date, the Pennington family has still not received ANY official information of any kind from the Marine Corps that their son was even arrested or charged, and he has been in jail almost one year now.

The Hutchin's family is a 3 generation Marine family, and they could not even offer to buy someone a cup of coffee who was meeting them to help them.

http://www.pendleton8.net

There is a previous thread I started, for the Hutchins family, from Mass, they were ignored by Senator Kennedy and Congressman DElahunt.

NO ONE is going near this with any political power, it has become the 3rd rail

Since you have been following this story pretty closely for a while, maybe you know:

What do you think is really going on? Thx.

What surprises me the most is the alleged denial of counsel.

These days, if you have a case, you get opposing counsel in early, because they can focus their client and move case along. You get the matter out of the "positioning" stage and into "how do we get this (POS) cleared off the docket" much more quickly.

For example, I'm not admitted in Florida, but a friend got caught about a year ago. His DL had expired 14 months earlier and he got nailed (cleanly) going 93 in a 70.

He starts giving the Trooper all sorts of guff. Wouldn't sign the ticket. He ends up in the Osceola County Can. When he finally got tired of yelling, he called me.

Talked to the Trooper. Got citation reduced to "parking on thoroughfare so as to hazardously block traffic," (no points or insurance hits ) promised not to fight it and case was closed that night.

Parents just sound a bit over the top to me.

Whad jhu tink?

For the first time in the history of the world, a conventional war can no longer be won.
this is why
If this mess is not rectified, we will recieve a nuclear attack on a US city within the next 5-10 years
If this was the policy of war in 1945 my Dad would be in prison for what he did in Okinawa at 16 years of age and you would probably be working working for Mitsubishi
Your statement is straight from the horses A$$