Posted on 08/09/2007 9:04:39 AM PDT by darrylsharratt
From A Haditha Marine Family- Its Finally Over
At 7:00 PST, 9 August 2007 Justin and his attorney met with a Marine Corps representative in an office at Camp Pendleton, CA. At this time, my son LCpl Justin Sharratt, was handed an official Marine Corps Disposition of Charges document declaring the charges stemming from the 19 November 2005 Haditha engagement have been officially dismissed. The last line of the two page Disposition Of Charges document ended with these words from the General, And as you have always remained cloaked in the presumption of innocence, with this dismissal of charges, you remain in the eyes of the law- and in my eyes- innocent. Lt. Gen James T. Mattis
Jim RobinsonMy family would like to offer you a sincere and deep felt thank you. During our darkest days you allowed us to publish our story here on Free Republic. When others went deaf, you listened and you heard. Our belief in God, our belief in the innocence of our son and the support and prayers of the American people helped us through this rough ordeal. Our family has met a group of American patriots here on FR that my words fall short in thanking. You helped us through these trying times with your support, thoughts and financial assistance. My family is truly proud to be an American family. You took us in and made us part of Your Family. For that I can never thank you enough.
With the Generals announcement of the exoneration of my son, LCpl Justin L. Sharratt, part of our journey has ended. Another has just begun. We will put our lives together and continue the fight for the remaining Haditha Marines. By now, you know these men. They are part of my family and I know you have made them part of yours. My son served with these men and he would have given up his life for them. I hope to find justice for these Marines and the battle has just begun. God Bless.
Redrover, Madison Marine, Girlene, Marine Uncle, Eagles6, Semper Fi Mom, Jazusamo, 4 woodenboats, LanceyHoward, brityank, pinkpanther, Chickenhawk Warmonger, RaceBannon, xzins, velveeta, freema and others- names, with no faces. You helped my family through this and we may never be able to express our gratitude. Thank You!!!!!!
God Bless Our Haditha Marines Darryl, Theresa, Jaclyn, LCpl Justin Sharratt
Mr. Sharratt, God bless you and your family, and especially your brave son. You have all been through so much - thank God he has been proven innocent, as we’re all praying the remaining Marines will be as well.
Thank you also for/to your son LCpl Justin Sharratt
A Man, A Marine, A Hero
Great news!
You, Sir, along with your entire family are a class-act!
Thank you for all of your reports thoughout and especially this one.
Salute! ...two
God bless you.
I celebrate this wonderful news with you.
God bless.
Darryl this was the best news I’ve had in a while! General Mattis’ words gave me chill bumps and brought tears to my eyes. I am so happy for you, Justin and the rest of your family.
Pop the Cork - It’s time to celebrate!
My thanks to your son for his honorable service to our country, and my apologies as an American that he had to weather these unjust accusations that should have been seen as groundless from the start.
Amen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Darryl, we are so happy for you and your family...and especially that fine young man. Our prayers will continue to be with you.
God Bless you!!!
Jebster, aka, John in Dublin
Persevere with truth.
‘Bout time.
HOO-AHHHH!
S/F
Now for all the others.
The military, regardless of branch, is constricted by certain guidelines and laws that don’t exist outside. They do not go out to wreck lives. They are battling several fronts...discovery of the truth in order to carry out the law, and the Left that will do anything to smear them. The carrying out of the JAG’s mission is as complex as any, and therefore makes for bureaucracy.
Men and women put themselves in jeopardy because we raised our hands and took an oath to protect against enemies both foreign and domestic.
You should be proud of your son. You state that you are more concerned about him being falsely accused rather than insurgents and IEDs. The possiblity of him being involved in something that would bring false accusations is slim. However, should it happen, he would know the truth. I would rather suffer a few years of “trashed” reputation because those that matter to me would know that truth as well. Insurgents and IEDs can kill.
Please congratulate your son, and give him all our best wishes!
Former US Army Sgt.
Thank you for your service. I am, indeed, very proud of my son’s decision.
I will grant that it’s better to be a Ray Donovan asking “where do I go to get my reputation back” than a young soldier asking where he might go to get back his eyes/limbs/life. That does not diminish the fact that these accused men and their families were put through a grinder (not unlike the Duke Lax players) because someone in that vast bureaucracy wanted to earn points in the JAG system or above. It’s disgusting. The military cannot claim to be defending against the smears of the left if they will readily turn around and allow their own to be trashed. The behavior of the USMC in this instance was anything but honorable (and I am very prejudiced in favor of the USMC).
While these Marines and their families may know the truth, that is small comfort while their reputations are being trashed in headlines across the country (and by a certain former Marine serving in Congress), their finances depleted, and precious years of their lives stolen from them. Typically a scandal garners page one headlines for months or years, while the retraction barely earns a retraction on page D-34. This is truly something they will have to live with for the rest of their lives.
The JAG and other officers who prosecuted this as far as they did deserve demotions. The General’s big ‘oops’ is not too impressive. NO sympathy here for those in charge.
Thankyou, Darryl and Theresa, for being such great parents to defend your son at any cost. Thankyou, Justin, for serving honorably, defending 0ur nation’s interests, and protecting your brothers. Thankyou to the rest of the Sharratt’s who also bore this burden.
RedRover you have been simply tireless in bringing news updates and so active in the support of the Haditha Marines on Free Republic. Darryl, I think you’ll agree Don Dinsmore deserves a big hug for his Support the Haditha Marines motorcycle ride to Camp Pendleton, Phil Brennan for continuing to get the story out there on NewsMax and their fundraiser, and as of late, Nat Helms for bringing such well written articles and info on the Haditha Marines that nobody else was covering.
Darryl and Theresa, you handled this with such grace, even though I’m sure there were very dark days. Thank you for joining Free Republic and sharing this victory with all military and patriotic Freepers.
Very good news! Best of luck to you from another proud U.S. Marine dad.
Free+Republic = Any questions? God Bless those who still endear the American Spirit, especially those serving in uniform.
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