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Senator calls for review of hazing in the ranks

By James K. Sanborn - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Dec 23, 2011 15:26:35 EST
  
The alleged hazing and suicide of an Asian American soldier downrange closely resembles the case of an Asian American Marine who fatally shot himself in April at an Afghanistan outpost. The twin cases prompted Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., to call for a sweeping Defense Department review of hazing in the military “and ties to racial discrimination.”

Army Pvt. Danny Chen, 19, allegedly endured weeks of racial taunting before shooting himself Oct. 3 in a guardhouse in Afghanistan. Eight soldiers have since been charged with crimes ranging from dereliction of duty to involuntary manslaughter.

Related reading:
8 soldiers charged in private’s death (Dec. 21)

3 Marines will go to trial for alleged hazing (Oct. 26)

Chen was first harassed during pre-deployment training with the Alaska-based 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, said Elizabeth OuYang, an attorney representing Chen’s parents. Fellow soldiers cried out “Chen!” in an exaggerated Asian accent and called him “Jackie Chen,” a reference to action star Jackie Chan, she said.

When he arrived in Afghanistan Chen allegedly was dragged across the floor, pelted with stones and forced to hold liquid in his mouth while hanging upside-down,

It is less clear if racial discrimination played a role in the suicide of Lance Cpl. Harry Lew, 21. Several Marines said during an Article 32 hearing that Lew was the target of some teasing because of his ethnicity. But the alleged reason Lew’s peers in Hawaii-based 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines, hazed him was because he repeatedly fell asleep while on watch at Patrol Base Gowragi in Helmand province’s Nawa district.

Lew allegedly was berated and forced to endured physical abuse including punches, kicks and forced physical training in full gear. During the early morning of April 3, he shot himself in the head with his M249 Squad Automatic Weapon. Three Marines each face court-martial.

Gillibrand requested a briefing from Pentagon officials “in the next few weeks” to gauge the extent of the problem. At least five suicides in 2010, about 2 percent of the total, were tied to hazing, according to the 2010 DoD Suicide Event Report.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the joint chiefs, said on his Facebook page and Twitter that every military member had a duty to uphold a “zero tolerance” standard for hazing.

“This cruel form of misconduct requires an audience to achieve its intended effect of humiliation,” he said. “Every service member should be aware that participating in hazing or even observing it without reporting it are both wrong. We are duty-bound to protect one another from hazing in any form.”