Killings Sting Proud Battalion

BAGHDAD -- The men from Task Force 1-41 fought the battle for Sadr City last summer, chasing Al Mahdi militiamen through the slums in 120-degree heat. A year earlier, the unit had helped lead the charge into Baghdad.

The 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment has a distinguished combat history, from the D-Day landing to the Iraq desert campaign of the Persian Gulf War. Its motto: “Straight and Stalwart.”

Last week, in a makeshift military courtroom, the unit’s reputation came under assault. Soldiers from 1-41 described how a member of a rogue platoon hauled an unarmed Iraqi man away from his family one hot August morning and casually fired two shots into his head. Then he photographed the corpse.

As disturbing as the testimony was for soldiers from a proud unit, it was just one episode in a shocking series of killings. Over a period of 26 days in August and September, seven 1-41 soldiers were charged with six murders on two continents.

Soldiers have described renegade infantrymen who bragged about their kills. In one case, they testified, soldiers from a 1-41 platoon argued over who should get credit for killing an unarmed Iraqi because they had bet on who would be the first.

Four of the victims were Iraqi civilians. In addition to the two alleged executions, soldiers were accused of shooting a critically wounded Iraqi teenager in a “mercy killing,” and shooting an unarmed Iraqi, who, according to two soldiers, was waving a white cloth. Two more infantrymen were charged with murdering two fellow 1-41 soldiers in Kansas.

Court testimony suggests a unit in chaos, plagued by a handful of out-of-control soldiers and riven by internal divisions.

Soldiers said one squad leader ordered his men to take no prisoners, and at least one soldier who complained about misconduct had to be transferred for his safety.

Another 1-41 soldier was punished for kicking an Iraqi corpse after urine from the body dripped onto the soldier’s hands.

Experts in military history say they cannot recall another case where so many members from a single unit were charged with so many killings in so short a period. In all, a dozen American servicemen in Iraq have been charged with killing civilians. During the Vietnam War, 122 servicemen were convicted of killing noncombatants.

Some military legal experts say the killing of civilians -- whether accidental or intentional -- can be expected in a war where insurgents use terrorist tactics such as car and roadside bombs, while also blending in with civilians and firing from mosques, schools and hospitals.

“The circumstances in Iraq are novel,” said Eugene Fidell, a lawyer who has represented soldiers and directs the National Institute for Military Justice. “We have unusual, asymmetrical warfare and fairly insane behavior by an enemy that blatantly violates the laws of war.”

These seven 1-41 infantrymen were charged in the shootings:

* Staff Sgts. Johnny Horne Jr., 30, and Cardenas J. Alban, 29, were accused of shooting a severely wounded Iraqi teenager in Sadr City, the Baghdad slum, on Aug. 18. The staff sergeants later told investigators that they shot the boy “to put him out of his misery.” The military also charged 2nd Lt. Erick J. Anderson, 25, the platoon leader, with premeditated murder.

The boy was one of seven Iraqi teenagers and young men killed after the unit fired on a dump truck in the dark. Soldiers mistook them for insurgents laying roadside bombs.

On Friday, Horne pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to three years in prison.

Sgt. Michael P. Williams, 25, was charged in the same incident with killing an Iraqi who ran from the truck. Some soldiers testified that the unarmed man was waving a white cloth, and one heard the Iraqi shouting “Baby! Baby!” -- possibly referring to youngsters in the truck, which had been hired to pick up trash.

Williams told his squad before leaving Ft. Riley in Kansas that they would “take no prisoners” in Iraq, according to testimony.

* Ten days later, on Aug. 28, an Iraqi smirked as Williams struggled to disassemble an AK-47 rifle found in the man’s house. Soldiers testified that Williams took the man inside the house, had his plastic handcuffs removed, laid the rifle near him and said: “I feel my life has been threatened.” Williams then shot the man, a soldier testified.

Another soldier allegedly then told him the Iraqi was still alive. “I’ll take care of it,” Williams replied, and shot the man again, according to prosecutors.

A few minutes later, soldiers pulled a man from a nearby home where two guns had been found. “You know what you have to do,” Williams told Spc. Brent W. May, 22, who fired twice into the man’s head, according to testimony.

* On Sept. 13, according to Kansas police, Sgts. Aaron R. Stanley, 22, and Eric J. Colvin, 23, shot and killed two fellow soldiers from 1-41 inside a house rented by Stanley in rural Clay County, 30 miles from the unit’s home base at Ft. Riley. Stanley and Colvin, both Iraq veterans, also were charged with using and selling marijuana and methamphetamines. A drug inquiry of the unit is also underway in Iraq.

The five soldiers accused in Iraq are from the same platoon within 1-41. The two charged in Kansas are members of a different company within the battalion.

The unit, based at Camp Liberty near the Baghdad airport and attached to the 1st Cavalry Division, was in Iraq from February to July 2003. It returned in June.

The 1-41 soldiers have conducted harrowing patrols in tight alleys and teeming slums. They are infantrymen, who normally fight the enemy face-to-face in close quarters and historically suffer the most casualties. Four soldiers from 1-41 have died in combat, and about 50 have been wounded.

Alban, Horne, Williams, May and Anderson served on both Iraq tours. The unit did not engage in particularly heavy combat in 2003 but fought intense firefights after being diverted to help combat a militia uprising in Sadr City last summer. By August, the unit was part of a massive, brigade-sized effort to clear militants from the slum.

The soldiers were soon exposed to an intense level of bloodshed and violence most had never experienced. They were fighting determined but undisciplined militiamen who dressed in civilian clothes and mingled into crowds.

By Aug. 18, the soldiers had had virtually no sleep for four days. Before that day was over, the young infantrymen had witnessed massive trauma, including blown-off kneecaps, smashed skulls, spilled intestines and horrible burns. Some of the victims were children.

“These kids are in their early 20s,” said Keith Higgins, May’s civilian attorney. “It’s their first time in combat. They are dealing with this stress and violence for the first time.”

In testimony, 1-41 soldiers said they had received unclear or conflicting rules of engagement, known as ROE. Defense lawyers argued that confusion over the rules left soldiers uncertain when they could fire -- and at which targets.

One soldier testified that he believed he would be justified in shooting a person carrying a cellphone after an explosion because the phones often are used to detonate roadside bombs. Others said such a shooting was not justified.

“In Kuwait, they told us we didn’t have to give warning shots,” said Sgt. Jack Johnson, a member of the unit. “In Iraq they told us to give warning shots. The ROE was kind of vague.”

Higgins said in an interview that May was struggling to cope with stressful combat conditions in Sadr City.

Lawyers have not outlined a defense, but attorneys for 3rd Infantry Division combat veterans accused of killing a fellow soldier in Georgia in July 2003 cited post-traumatic stress disorder. Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, “lack of mental responsibility” is an accepted defense.

The New England Journal of Medicine, in a study published in July, said 15% to 17% of infantrymen surveyed in four combat units in Iraq suffered from major depression, generalized anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder. Only 23% to 40% sought mental healthcare, the study said, largely because of a stigma against seeking psychological help.

Under an Army program begun in July 2003, all service members returning from Iraq are required to meet with chaplains and undergo psychological screening.

Horne’s lawyer submitted written testimony from a military forensic psychiatrist who said that Horne’s actions probably stemmed from combat stress.

“He lost his sense of professional distance from the victims,” the psychiatrist wrote.

Williams, a squad leader, has emerged as a central figure. Williams’ men were the first to fire on the dump truck Aug. 18, and prosecutors said he was present at three of the killings.

Known as “Sgt. Will,” he was liked by some soldiers and loathed by others. Some said Williams expressed support for killing any “fighting age” Iraqi male and for killing the oldest male in any household where weapons were found.

Williams, a tall young man with a high crew cut, was a hard-driving leader who demanded that his men perform combat drills during their down time. “He was pretty stern,” Spc. Joshua Sickels testified.

Prosecutors said soldiers tried to cover up the Aug. 28 killings by claiming that the Iraqis had reached for guns. Williams ordered his men to “stick to the story,” soldiers testified. But Pfc. Gary Romriell said he slipped a note to superior officers complaining about the killings. Romriell was transferred to another unit after Williams threatened him, witnesses said.

Experts in military law say command responsibility will probably be one focus of military investigations into the incidents.

The Army Field Manual says a commander can be held legally responsible for war crimes committed by his soldiers “if he has actual knowledge, or should have knowledge ... that troops or other persons subject to his control are about to commit or have committed a war crime” and fails to act.

“One instance might point to an individual,” Higgins said. “But when you see multiple separate instances, you have to start looking for the common denominator. You’ve got to look to the command.”

The Task Force 1-41 commander, Lt. Col. David Batchelor, testified that he arrived shortly after May allegedly shot the Iraqi man on Aug. 28. Batchelor said he suspected the victim was a militiaman because May told him the man was shot after reaching for a gun.

Batchelor, 39, has not been charged. In a July letter to the spouses of unit members, Batchelor described intense training for the unit “specific to urban combat” and added, “I’ve never been around finer people than these soldiers.”

A senior Army official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, defended the 700-soldier battalion. A few disruptive soldiers, randomly assigned to a unit, can create a “stunning event” that is an aberration, not the rule, the official said.

Many Ft. Riley soldiers interviewed at random in neighboring Junction City, Kan., said it was wrong for the military to charge the soldiers. They cited the fear, violence and stress that infantrymen endured.

“You’re always on guard. You’re always told to watch out. You’re a nervous wreck,” said Spc. Timmothy DeCroix, 21, who said he served alongside 1-41 soldiers in Iraq last year.

Spc. Charles McMillan, 21, who said he lost friends to a car bomb in Iraq, said the five defendants in Iraq should not have been charged with murder. “From being over there, I know your mind just gets so clouded. They just got stressed out,” he said.

McMillan described 1-41 as “squared away. They’re pretty awesome

Some veterans criticized unit members who had alerted superiors, saying soldiers in combat should support one another, no matter what.

“What you see, you keep to yourself,” said Rick Geike, 64, a Vietnam War veteran.

Fred Meyer, 69-year-old veteran who was helping Geike hang Christmas decorations at American Legion Post 45, said soldiers should not be punished for anything that happened in combat.

“You’re trained to kill. Bingo,” he said. “End of conversation.”

Sanders reported from Baghdad, Simon from Junction City, Kan., and Zucchino from Philadelphia. Times researcher Lynn Marshall in Seattle also contributed to this report.