thedrifter
06-11-06, 09:01 AM
Family Unsettled by Inquiry
Marine's Relatives Say Much Unknown About Haditha Incident
By Sylvia Moreno
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, June 11, 2006; A20
EL PASO -- In the cool early-morning hours before the sun rises high and harsh, or in the evening as it slips behind the Franklin Mountains, Martin Terrazas Sr. likes to sit and talk or read to his second-born son, Miguel.
Sometimes he reads a few pages from a book about Marines serving in Iraq. But, mostly, he reads Miguel's favorite, the local newspaper -- entire stories if Terrazas has time, headlines if he doesn't. "Listen to this," the father says.
Terrazas might bring water and a lawn chair, if he's going to stay awhile. His first-born son, Martin Jr., might ride his Harley-Davidson over because Miguel loved the bike and wanted one just like it. But even if there's no time for a long visit, there's always time for a "hi" and a "bye" and a hug.
Inside the National Cemetery at Fort Bliss here, Terrazas hugs the white granite tombstone that declares Marine Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas "a devoted son brother and grandson who loved his country." The father whispers, "Hang in there, mijo " -- using Spanish for "my son."
Hang in is what Terrazas said he, too, is trying to do as he copes with his son's death in Haditha, Iraq, and the subsequent controversy surrounding the Nov. 19 incident. Twice, Terrazas has met with investigators from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service looking into whether members of his son's unit killed as many as two dozen Iraqi civilians after a roadside bomb killed Miguel, 20. Twice, Terrazas has told them that his brief conversations with some members of his son's squad yielded mostly reminiscences, laughter and tears and scant details of what happened the day he was killed.
"In a way, it is bothersome, because I look at those Marines and I see my son," Terrazas said of the investigation. "I cannot imagine they massacred these 24 Iraqis; I just can't imagine that. Something happened, and we don't know exactly what."
Like parents of other members of 1st Squad, 3rd Platoon, Kilo Company -- the unit under scrutiny -- Terrazas believes the Marines are being judged unfairly. "Let's wait and see what happens," he said. "Some people are rushing to judgment of our troops."
As for his large, close-knit family, "we're in the middle of grieving," Terrazas said. "It's all still fresh to us. This keeps bringing me back to Day One, where you just feel very sad."
Miguel's grandfather Jorge Terrazas, who has turned one room in his house into a shrine to his grandson, agrees. "When will all this end so that my grandson can rest in peace?" he asks with tears in his eyes.
Iraqis in Haditha, a predominantly Sunni city northwest of Baghdad, have described a massacre on Nov. 19 of men, women and children -- some of whom begged for their lives before being shot -- after a bomb killed Terrazas. Three Marine officers have been relieved of command.
Terrazas was the driver of the last Humvee in a four-vehicle convoy on a daily mission in Haditha. A large bomb in the ground hit his vehicle, killing him instantly and injuring two Marines inside the Humvee.
Because of the investigation, Marine Corps officials have not responded publicly.
The lance corporal was the latest military enlistee in the extended Terrazas family, which includes several Marine and Army veterans. Three youngsters, including Miguel's 14-year-old brother, Andy, say they are destined for the Marines as soon as they graduate from high school.
Mike, as his family called him, enlisted as soon as he graduated in 2003 from Mountain View High School, where he played left guard for the varsity football team. Aware that he was not ready to try college, he told his father that the military was the place for him to figure out what to do with his life. "I said, 'Great, mijo . That's wonderful,' " Terrazas recalled.
Growing up, Miguel was an avid hunter of birds and rabbits in the desert that surrounds El Paso. That skill translated into excellent marksmanship during his 2004 training at Camp Pendleton in California. He was so proficient at daytime and zero-visibility exercises, he was designated point man for his squad when it left for Iraq in June 2004.
During his first four months of deployment in two suburbs of Fallujah, Terrazas was the only Marine in his platoon to shoot and kill an insurgent whom he saw running from an ambush of a Marine patrol, according to his former platoon commander. He was awarded a Certificate of Commendation.
During the invasion of Fallujah, he continued to serve as squad point man, was involved in several firefights with insurgents and was a driver for one of the platoon's Humvees, "showing an uncanny ability to drive through debris and around obstacles/gunfire at high speeds without risking his fellow Marines on board," wrote his former commanding officer, Jesse Grapes, in a letter to Martin Terrazas Sr. after his son's death.
After his first deployment, Miguel returned to El Paso with stories about insurgents who used civilians as human shields. He recounted killing Iraqis armed with AK-47s, some of them accompanied by children, and other Iraqis inside bomb-rigged houses. He said he did what he was trained to do -- "disarm and take down" -- yet asked his father while home on leave, "Do you think God is going to forgive me for what happened?"
"He went to talk to a priest, and the priest assured him that if he was doing his duty, protecting himself and the other Marines, he did the right thing," the father recalled. "That took a big load off his back."
On Nov. 29, that same priest said the funeral Mass for Miguel at St. Ignatius Catholic Church, where as a child, Terrazas had been baptized and confirmed, and as a Marine, he had sought solace.
Ellie
Marine's Relatives Say Much Unknown About Haditha Incident
By Sylvia Moreno
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, June 11, 2006; A20
EL PASO -- In the cool early-morning hours before the sun rises high and harsh, or in the evening as it slips behind the Franklin Mountains, Martin Terrazas Sr. likes to sit and talk or read to his second-born son, Miguel.
Sometimes he reads a few pages from a book about Marines serving in Iraq. But, mostly, he reads Miguel's favorite, the local newspaper -- entire stories if Terrazas has time, headlines if he doesn't. "Listen to this," the father says.
Terrazas might bring water and a lawn chair, if he's going to stay awhile. His first-born son, Martin Jr., might ride his Harley-Davidson over because Miguel loved the bike and wanted one just like it. But even if there's no time for a long visit, there's always time for a "hi" and a "bye" and a hug.
Inside the National Cemetery at Fort Bliss here, Terrazas hugs the white granite tombstone that declares Marine Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas "a devoted son brother and grandson who loved his country." The father whispers, "Hang in there, mijo " -- using Spanish for "my son."
Hang in is what Terrazas said he, too, is trying to do as he copes with his son's death in Haditha, Iraq, and the subsequent controversy surrounding the Nov. 19 incident. Twice, Terrazas has met with investigators from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service looking into whether members of his son's unit killed as many as two dozen Iraqi civilians after a roadside bomb killed Miguel, 20. Twice, Terrazas has told them that his brief conversations with some members of his son's squad yielded mostly reminiscences, laughter and tears and scant details of what happened the day he was killed.
"In a way, it is bothersome, because I look at those Marines and I see my son," Terrazas said of the investigation. "I cannot imagine they massacred these 24 Iraqis; I just can't imagine that. Something happened, and we don't know exactly what."
Like parents of other members of 1st Squad, 3rd Platoon, Kilo Company -- the unit under scrutiny -- Terrazas believes the Marines are being judged unfairly. "Let's wait and see what happens," he said. "Some people are rushing to judgment of our troops."
As for his large, close-knit family, "we're in the middle of grieving," Terrazas said. "It's all still fresh to us. This keeps bringing me back to Day One, where you just feel very sad."
Miguel's grandfather Jorge Terrazas, who has turned one room in his house into a shrine to his grandson, agrees. "When will all this end so that my grandson can rest in peace?" he asks with tears in his eyes.
Iraqis in Haditha, a predominantly Sunni city northwest of Baghdad, have described a massacre on Nov. 19 of men, women and children -- some of whom begged for their lives before being shot -- after a bomb killed Terrazas. Three Marine officers have been relieved of command.
Terrazas was the driver of the last Humvee in a four-vehicle convoy on a daily mission in Haditha. A large bomb in the ground hit his vehicle, killing him instantly and injuring two Marines inside the Humvee.
Because of the investigation, Marine Corps officials have not responded publicly.
The lance corporal was the latest military enlistee in the extended Terrazas family, which includes several Marine and Army veterans. Three youngsters, including Miguel's 14-year-old brother, Andy, say they are destined for the Marines as soon as they graduate from high school.
Mike, as his family called him, enlisted as soon as he graduated in 2003 from Mountain View High School, where he played left guard for the varsity football team. Aware that he was not ready to try college, he told his father that the military was the place for him to figure out what to do with his life. "I said, 'Great, mijo . That's wonderful,' " Terrazas recalled.
Growing up, Miguel was an avid hunter of birds and rabbits in the desert that surrounds El Paso. That skill translated into excellent marksmanship during his 2004 training at Camp Pendleton in California. He was so proficient at daytime and zero-visibility exercises, he was designated point man for his squad when it left for Iraq in June 2004.
During his first four months of deployment in two suburbs of Fallujah, Terrazas was the only Marine in his platoon to shoot and kill an insurgent whom he saw running from an ambush of a Marine patrol, according to his former platoon commander. He was awarded a Certificate of Commendation.
During the invasion of Fallujah, he continued to serve as squad point man, was involved in several firefights with insurgents and was a driver for one of the platoon's Humvees, "showing an uncanny ability to drive through debris and around obstacles/gunfire at high speeds without risking his fellow Marines on board," wrote his former commanding officer, Jesse Grapes, in a letter to Martin Terrazas Sr. after his son's death.
After his first deployment, Miguel returned to El Paso with stories about insurgents who used civilians as human shields. He recounted killing Iraqis armed with AK-47s, some of them accompanied by children, and other Iraqis inside bomb-rigged houses. He said he did what he was trained to do -- "disarm and take down" -- yet asked his father while home on leave, "Do you think God is going to forgive me for what happened?"
"He went to talk to a priest, and the priest assured him that if he was doing his duty, protecting himself and the other Marines, he did the right thing," the father recalled. "That took a big load off his back."
On Nov. 29, that same priest said the funeral Mass for Miguel at St. Ignatius Catholic Church, where as a child, Terrazas had been baptized and confirmed, and as a Marine, he had sought solace.
Ellie