1 Discharge Urged in ‘Blood Pinning’
A Marine general recommended Friday that one sergeant be discharged and three others disciplined for a videotaped 1993 ritual in which uniform pins were beaten into paratroopers’ chests as they grimaced and bled.
When the “blood pinning” at Camp Lejeune came to light in January, Defense Secretary William S. Cohen said the military must have “zero tolerance” for such hazing. The Marine Corps commandant authorized the base commander, Maj. Gen. Patrick Howard, to set punishments.
Howard recommended an administrative discharge for a gunnery sergeant who was the highest-ranking Marine videotaped beating the golden jump wings into the paratroopers’ chests. The pins are awarded after a Marine has made 10 parachute jumps.
The other nine servicemen who participated in the pinnings or watched and are still on active duty got off easier.
Howard recommended three staff sergeants have details of the incident placed in their military records. He ordered counseling for them and for the others--one staff sergeant, three sergeants, one corporal and one sailor.
None were identified by name.
Howard earlier recommended discharging two leaders of a base platoon that held a “blood pinning” in 1991. A videotape of that incident aired on “Dateline NBC” in January, prompting an investigation. The 1993 blood pinning was similarly videotaped, apparently by other Marines.
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