How the Death of a Muslim Recruit Revealed a Culture of Brutality in the Marines. Weaver, one of the platoons highest performing recruits, was shaken. During a family picnic just before his graduation, he told his parents that crazy stuff happened during training. I cant talk about it here, he said nervously. After we get off the island, we can talk about it. Over the next few months, Weaver tried to push what he experienced to the back of his mind, but it was always there. He had believed the Marines was an ethical organization. Then a D. I. bashed his head against a wall for seemingly no reason. And another, after asking if he was a devout Christian, taunted him Say goddamn. That fall, Weaver, then in his last phase of training in Pensacola, Fla., suffered a breakdown and was hospitalized with suicidal thoughts. Having lost his desire to serve, he received word he was being given an other than honorable discharge from the Marines. His father, Troy, decided to phone his commanding officer and tell her what he knew. The fact is, the abuse would have never been reported had I not stood up and said, Look, youre not going to give him a bad discharge because of what he went through at Parris Island, Troy told me. Those kids werent talking. Weaver was given an other than honorable discharge, which he continues to contest. On Nov. Marine officials on Parris Island began an investigation into allegations of abuse based on statements Weaver, Bourmeche and another former recruit from Platoon 3. Weaver claims the investigators spent only 1. Kissoon, through his lawyer, maintains that during this period, Col. Paul Cucinotta, who had replaced Haas as regimental commander in the summer of 2. Internal Marine reports later described the investigation as suboptimal. When the investigators submitted their findings to Cucinotta in January 2. Lt. Col. Christopher Lynch, found the evidence persuasive enough to recommend that those involved be sat down or suspended from their duties. Cucinotta later claimed he agreed. We disagree with Colonel Cucinottas testimony, says Kissoons attorney, Colby Volkey. As of February, however, none of those implicated in the investigation had been suspended. Four months after the hazing reports, Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Felix returned to the Third Battalion and assumed the title of senior drill instructor, this time for Platoon 3. Kilo Company. Raheel Siddiqui debarked from the bus on the night of March 7, 2. It was late, and he was tired, unsure of what came next. WnOaHTQ/maxresdefault.jpg' alt='Boot Camp Windows 7 Bit Locker Error' title='Boot Camp Windows 7 Bit Locker Error' />From your Windows 10 desktop, hit Start, then Settings the gear in the bottom left of your task bar. From there, hit System Notifications Actions to change. MS Paint, the first app you used for editing images, will probably be killed off in future updates of Windows 10, replaced by the new app Paint 3D. Microsoft lists. How the Death of a Muslim Recruit Revealed a Culture of Brutality in the Marines. Recruits at Parris Island have been subjected to severe hazing, far. InformationWeek. com News, analysis and research for business technology professionals, plus peertopeer knowledge sharing. Engage with our community. He moved onto the yellow footprints, through the silver hatches and into the chaos and sleep deprivation that would define his first 9. Parris Island. Four days later, a day traditionally known as Black Friday even though in this case it was a Saturday, Raheel was assigned to Platoon 3. Kilo Companys three story red brick barracks. His squad bay, a cavernous room with beige green walls and floors shiny from excessive scrubbing, was on the top floor. As the recruits sat crossed legged, Sergeant Felix stepped forward. I am your senior drill instructor, he said with the signature barking cadence D. I. s use to exert their authority, and then began his scripted pledge. He promised to treat them with firmness, fairness, dignity and compassion, and informed them that abuse would not be tolerated. Photo. The Kilo Company barracks, where Raheel Siddiqui lived. Credit. Robert Clark for The New York Times There wasnt anything particularly unusual about that first day. The new recruits were ordered to perform hundreds of burpees. They were told to dangle their rifles off the ends of their pinkies. They were dog piled into a corner and then ordered to run back and forth, over and over. New Nes Games Free Download. One of Raheels platoonmates, who shared with me his detailed recollections on the condition of anonymity, thought he was going to pass out. And I was in pretty good shape, he says. I remember one kid had a panic attack and started throwing up, and I think he peed himself, too. The officers stood in the back of the squad bay, he says. When they left, thats when the real hell started. On the morning of March 1. Raheel announced to his D. I. s that hed rather die than continue training. He would jump out the squad bay window if he had to. When a recruit threatens suicide, everything stops. At first the D. I. Raheel What would his mother think were he to come home without becoming a Marine Id tell my mother goodbye and kill myself, he said. The future does not matter. The Marines took Raheels belt and boot laces to prevent him from strangling himself. Suicide threats are common during the early weeks of boot camp, though how many are serious is unclear. Everyone knows saying youre suicidal is a ticket off Parris Island, Raheels platoonmate says. Sickness or broken bones, on the other hand, will get a recruit a long stint in medical, after which they will simply be assigned to another company and start training all over again. Base officials determined Raheel didnt qualify for emergency transport to the hospital. Instead, he was cross decked They moved him, still without laces or a belt, to another platoons squad bay. Over the next 2. 4 hours, he sat there cross legged on a mattress in the middle of the room while a shadow watch of recruits shined a flashlight on his face and took turns monitoring him around the clock. At some point during this period, Raheel, who had to request permission to leave the mattress to use the bathroom, recanted his suicide threat and said hed decided he wanted to be a Marine. The next morning, Felix escorted Raheel to recruit liaison services, an office set up to ascertain if recruits had enlisted fraudulently such as by failing to disclose a history of suicidal ideation, and to motivate struggling recruits to return to training. Drill instructors who accompany recruits to these sessions usually sit in a waiting area, but Felix stood about 1. Raheel provided what was referred to as a voluntary statement retracting his threat. This recruit thought it was the only way to quit, he said. This recruit never meant that and regrets it. The bases mental health unit deemed him to be at a low risk for harm, and Raheel went back to training. It would be noted later, in the Marines report, that Raheel, shortly after saying he wanted to kill himself, confided to the military police who were going to escort him to the hospital that he could not handle being hit by his drill instructors. The allegation was noted and disregarded several times by what appeared to be several officials. In reviewing the incidents of that week, the Marines made no mention of the four days after Raheel resumed training. His platoonmate, though, recalls them as torture. As one report noted, Platoon 3. They were called bitches, faggots, maggots, little bitches, pussies and retards. A Russian born recruit was called the Russian, or the cosmonaut, and was asked if he was a Russian spy. Raheel was called a terrorist. Felix asked on one occasion if he needed his turban. Photo. A Parris Island drill instructor shouting at a recruit. Credit. Robert Clark for The New York Times Raheels platoonmate didnt understand why Raheel had joined the Marines. Orders seemed to confound him. Rather than simply following them, he thought about what he was asked. Like a normal person, the platoonmate says.