Word: martial
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...gaunt, impassive Marine staff sergeant snapped to ramrod attention before the officers at the court-martial table, the little sounds of restlessness in the green-walled auditorium fell off to dead silence. There was tension in the sultry air, for the court had stayed out for a seemingly endless four hours of deliberation. Now the fans whirred softly overhead, and sweat glistened on the faces of most of the spectators...
Thus did the court-martial of Staff Sergeant Matthew C. McKeon, U.S.M.C., charged with drinking on duty, "oppression" of troops and culpable negligence in the death of six recruits drowned while on a night disciplinary march under his command (TIME, April 23 et seq.), come to an end one afternoon last week at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island...
Then came the trial's most surprising performance. Down from Washington to testify in McKeon's behalf came General Randolph McCall Pate, commandant of the Marine Corps and the man who approved the court-martial and, in April, angrily called McKeon's action "deplorable." Tieless and affable, Marine Pate first went out of his way to shake McKeon's hand and murmur "Good luck to you, my boy," before he took the witness stand. If it were up to him, he said haplessly, in answer to "Zuke" Berman's hypothetical question, his only punishment...
Respectful but not intimidated, the seven court-martial officers took seven hours to find Matt McKeon guilty of drinking in barracks and simple negligence in the six deaths. But they cleared him of the more serious charges of "oppression" and culpable negligence. McKeon, the court found, was not drunk the night of the march, nor had he been criminally negligent. McKeon, Zuke Berman, the prosecution and the press took the verdict as clear evidence of a Pate-weight sentence to come. Then, next day, came the stunning blow...
...Another index of discipline: of Platoon 71's 68 survivors, 63 were sent from Camp Lejeune to Parris Island for possible use as witnesses in the court-martial. Of these, two promptly went over the hill. Of the five not at Parris Island, one is in the hospital, one is AWOL, one has deserted, one is being held for commanding officer's punishment, one is in the brig...