Local musician Jim Duff has the blues

Comment by drzrocks: Wednesday, July 14

I never heard anything impressive on his site at all....read more...

Humane Society comes under fire in local farming magazine

Comment by Truthseekerme: Thursday, July 8

Patti Strand, of the National Animal Interest Alliance, author of "The Hijacking of the Humane Movem...read more...

Humane Society comes under fire in local farming magazine

Comment by HillaryatHSUS: Wednesday, July 7

I work at the HSUS, and I’ve also worked at several animal shelters. Shelters do great work – ad...read more...

» Read more recent story comments
» Register for your account

There’s an old saying, “Once a Marine, always a Marine.” Anyone who has ever marched across a parade deck at Parris Island, San Diego or Quantico will tell you they are a Marine, a former Marine, or a retired Marine, but if you hear someone called an ex-Marine your radar should kick in. Representative John P. Murtha (D-Pa.), who retired from Marine Corps Reserve at the rank of Colonel, was one other Marines refer to as an ‘ex’.

Murtha, the first Marine veteran of the Vietnam War to be elected to Congress, enlisted in the Corps in 1952 and was selected for Officer Candidates’ School after serving a tour as a drill instructor. He left the service in the mid-50s but returned to serve as an intelligence officer in Vietnam in 1966 where he was wounded twice and awarded a Bronze Star medal.

After Vietnam, Murtha served for four years in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives before being elected to Congress in 1974. Murtha’s prestige and power grew steadily over his 35 years of service in the House, eventually gaining a seat and ultimately the leadership of the House Defense Appropriations Subcom-mittee, where he gained a reputation as being very pro-defense and a good friend of the Marine Corps.

Murtha’s tenure in the House was not without trouble. He dodged prosecution in a 1980 sting operation, commonly referred to as ABSCAM, by testifying against two fellow congressmen videotaped taking cash bribes from FBI agents posing as Arab businessmen. His run-in with the law didn’t scare Murtha off quid pro quo politics. In fact, he was known to say that his middle initial “P” stood for “power.” He was frequently listed by citizen tax watch organizations as one of the worst politicians in Washington for abusing earmark privileges, and writers from such diverse publications as Esquire and the Wall Street Journal labeled him as “the worst.”

So how did this decorated veteran get himself unofficially kicked out of the Marine Corps gun club after years of supporting the Corps in Washington? It all happened in Haditha.

Murtha was an early supporter of the Global War on Terror, but by George Bush’s second term, political expediency had turned Murtha into an opportunistic critic of the war. In late 2005, Marines on patrol in Haditha, Iraq, were involved in a firefight subsequent to a roadside bombing, and 15 non-combatants were killed. Under intense media pressure, the Marine Corps opened an investigation, but before its conclusion Murtha accused the Marines involved of “cold-blooded murder and war crimes.”

Ultimately, charges against all but one of the Marines were dropped and the charges against the remaining Marine were reduced from murder to negligent homicide, but the damage to Murtha was done. Intense pressure from the Hill and the press had seriously compromised the investigation and attempted prosecution of Marines Murtha had called war criminals.

Without proof, Murtha had, for his own political gain, loudly and publicly condemned fellow Marines of crimes for which they were ultimately exonerated, and that just isn’t done.

Murtha died Monday as a result of a post-operative infection; his family was by his side.

John Patrick “Jack” Murtha, dead at 77, RIP.

Story comments

No comments on this article yet.

Posting comments on this web site requires free registration.

• Create your account
• Log in to your account