A Marine who urinated on the corpses of Taliban fighters in a video seen worldwide pleaded guilty Wednesday to several charges at a court-martial at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Staff Sgt. Edward W. Deptola admitted desecrating the remains and posing with the bodies of insurgents in Afghanistan for what he called “trophy photographs.’’ He also admitted that he failed to supervise other Marines involved in the incident and did not report the violations of military regulations.
In a 39-second video that was widely viewed on the Internet after it appeared in January 2012, four Marines in combat gear were shown urinating on three corpses in southern Afghanistan in July 2011. One Marine could be overheard saying to one of the bodies, “Have a good day, buddy.’’
Deptola had previously been instructed that desecrating corpses was a serious violation of Marine Corps regulations, he told the presiding judge, Lt. Col. Nicole Hudspeth. Nonetheless, he said, he urinated on the dead men and did not intervene to prevent other Marines in his sniper platoon from doing so. |
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