Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
San Diego Union-Tribune
September 19, 2007 By Rick Rogers, Staff Writer
CAMP PENDLETON -- Delano V. Holmes was a scholarship student at Indiana University weighing a career in journalism or law when he joined the Marine Corps as a reservist in 2004.
He so impressed his superiors that upon graduating from the San Diego Marine Corps Recruit Depot they wanted him sign up other young men to fight.
But he chose to go to war, believing he couldn't ask others to do what he had not done himself.
What began as a selfless act to serve his country in a time of war has gone terribly wrong.
The 22-year-old lance corporal is a defendant in a murder case. He's accused of stabbing an Iraqi soldier to death as the two shared guard duty in downtown Fallujah on Dec. 31. If convicted of murdering Mutather Jasem Muhammed Hassin, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.
The two men fought in an elevated watch post after Hassin illuminated their position with a cell phone and then a cigarette, a defense attorney has said.
Fearing the lights would tip off snipers, Holmes gestured to Hassin to stop. A fight broke out when Hassin laughed, the attorney said. Holmes then stabbed Hassin several times with a bayonet when he thought Hassin was going for his rifle.
The attorney also has said that Holmes suffered post traumatic stress because of little sleep and seeing Marines and civilians maimed and killed.
Yesterday, at a preliminary hearing, Holmes sat in a Camp Pendleton courtroom while lawyers sparred over whether autopsy reports and his statements to Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents should be admitted as evidence at his court-martial later this year.
By all rights, Holmes should be home in Indianapolis making plans to marry his fiancee, attending college and going to church, said Jenni Crowley, Holmes' foster mother.
“He keeps thinking he is going to wake up and find out that this was all a dream,” said Crowley from her home in Indianapolis. She is saving her days off so she can attend the trial. “He's in disbelief that this is happening. We all are.”
Crowley, 37, met Holmes in fall 2001 when he entered Ben Davis High School, where she worked with at-risk youth and coached the speech team, which he joined.
A difficult home life led Holmes to move in with Crowley in 2003. The single, white woman became the foster mother of Holmes, who is Hispanic and black.
“Del was a survivor. He took care of himself from an early age,” Crowley said. “He succeeded regardless of what was going on in his life. He was just a compassionate and caring person. He just had a wonderful spirit around him.”
Holmes earned a scholarship for low-income, first-generation college students and entered Indiana University in spring 2003.
But by early 2004, he had decided to join the Marine Corps reserves.
“I had mixed feelings,” Crowley said. “But I thought it would help his confidence and discipline. He was so determined to give back to society and be a part of something bigger than himself.”
After graduating from boot camp in San Diego in August 2004, he went to Camp Pendleton for infantry training.
The Marines saw Holmes – tall, good natured and a skilled speaker – as natural for recruiting duty. But he couldn't do it.
“He said he had a problem recruiting Marines who he knew would be going to war when he had not,” Crowley said.
Holmes trained as a machine gunner, and when he heard the Marines needed them in Iraq, he volunteered. He left in September 2006. Crowley received a few calls and e-mails, both brief and worrisome. She knew he wasn't telling her how bad it was.
Then came some hope: In a call in January he said he was coming home early, but he did not say why.
A Marine called to tell her. Her foster son was in the Camp Pendleton brig pending an investigation.
Crowley, who is trying to legally adopt Holmes, has visited him several times at the brig.
“He told me, 'Mom, all I can say is that I am innocent, and I have to believe that the attorneys will work this out.'”
September 19, 2007 By Rick Rogers, Staff Writer
CAMP PENDLETON -- Delano V. Holmes was a scholarship student at Indiana University weighing a career in journalism or law when he joined the Marine Corps as a reservist in 2004.
He so impressed his superiors that upon graduating from the San Diego Marine Corps Recruit Depot they wanted him sign up other young men to fight.
But he chose to go to war, believing he couldn't ask others to do what he had not done himself.
What began as a selfless act to serve his country in a time of war has gone terribly wrong.
The 22-year-old lance corporal is a defendant in a murder case. He's accused of stabbing an Iraqi soldier to death as the two shared guard duty in downtown Fallujah on Dec. 31. If convicted of murdering Mutather Jasem Muhammed Hassin, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.
The two men fought in an elevated watch post after Hassin illuminated their position with a cell phone and then a cigarette, a defense attorney has said.
Fearing the lights would tip off snipers, Holmes gestured to Hassin to stop. A fight broke out when Hassin laughed, the attorney said. Holmes then stabbed Hassin several times with a bayonet when he thought Hassin was going for his rifle.
The attorney also has said that Holmes suffered post traumatic stress because of little sleep and seeing Marines and civilians maimed and killed.
Yesterday, at a preliminary hearing, Holmes sat in a Camp Pendleton courtroom while lawyers sparred over whether autopsy reports and his statements to Naval Criminal Investigative Service agents should be admitted as evidence at his court-martial later this year.
By all rights, Holmes should be home in Indianapolis making plans to marry his fiancee, attending college and going to church, said Jenni Crowley, Holmes' foster mother.
“He keeps thinking he is going to wake up and find out that this was all a dream,” said Crowley from her home in Indianapolis. She is saving her days off so she can attend the trial. “He's in disbelief that this is happening. We all are.”
Crowley, 37, met Holmes in fall 2001 when he entered Ben Davis High School, where she worked with at-risk youth and coached the speech team, which he joined.
A difficult home life led Holmes to move in with Crowley in 2003. The single, white woman became the foster mother of Holmes, who is Hispanic and black.
“Del was a survivor. He took care of himself from an early age,” Crowley said. “He succeeded regardless of what was going on in his life. He was just a compassionate and caring person. He just had a wonderful spirit around him.”
Holmes earned a scholarship for low-income, first-generation college students and entered Indiana University in spring 2003.
But by early 2004, he had decided to join the Marine Corps reserves.
“I had mixed feelings,” Crowley said. “But I thought it would help his confidence and discipline. He was so determined to give back to society and be a part of something bigger than himself.”
After graduating from boot camp in San Diego in August 2004, he went to Camp Pendleton for infantry training.
The Marines saw Holmes – tall, good natured and a skilled speaker – as natural for recruiting duty. But he couldn't do it.
“He said he had a problem recruiting Marines who he knew would be going to war when he had not,” Crowley said.
Holmes trained as a machine gunner, and when he heard the Marines needed them in Iraq, he volunteered. He left in September 2006. Crowley received a few calls and e-mails, both brief and worrisome. She knew he wasn't telling her how bad it was.
Then came some hope: In a call in January he said he was coming home early, but he did not say why.
A Marine called to tell her. Her foster son was in the Camp Pendleton brig pending an investigation.
Crowley, who is trying to legally adopt Holmes, has visited him several times at the brig.
“He told me, 'Mom, all I can say is that I am innocent, and I have to believe that the attorneys will work this out.'”