Marine Captain Charged in Trainee's Death
Updated 10/16/99
A Marine captain who allegedly pushed his troops too hard during a conditioning hike in the summer heat was charged today with negligent homicide in the death of a corporal. Additionally, Captain Victor A. Arana, 28, of DuPage County, Ill has been charged with deteliction of duty and failing to obey a lawful order. According to the Manual For Courts-Martial, if found guilty, Captain Arana could spend more than 3 1/2 years in prison and be dishonorably dismissed from the Marine Corps.
 Official U.S.M.C.
Photo by David Nussbaum"Full-Pack Humps," where Marines hike for many miles carrying up to 100lbs are common in Marine Corps training. |
Lance Cpl. Giuseppe Leto, 21, of New Milford, Conn., died after completing the eight-mile
hike at Camp Lejeune on July 8. Camp Lejeune spokesman Capt. James Rich said Friday that temperatures were 80 to
85 degrees when the hike began. According to investigators, Captain Arana marched his unit too fast with not enough time for breaks, in violation of Marine training guidelines. An investigator's report, based on interviews with 30 Marines who were on the hike, said Leto was showing signs of heat-related stress within the first three miles of the hike, but refused available transportation which was assigned to carry Marines who could not finish. |
According to the report, after the hike was completed, Letro wandered away and collapsed. He was found unconscious nearly two hours later, and was pronounced dead on the way to the base hospital. Rich said Leto's death certificate described his case as probably "heat-related.''
The nighttime hike was part of the training in weapons and combat techniques that Marines undergo at Camp Lejeune's School of Infantry. Another Marine died at the base during a field exercise in August when the temperature reached 90, but no charges were filed. Last month, an airman died at Lackland Air Force Base during a 12 mile hike. The investigation into that incident is still ongoing. Criminal charges resulting from deaths during military training are extremely rare.
| In 1995, during an Army training exercise, three Army officers and six enlisted men received official reprimands when four Army Ranger trainees died of exposure after spending hours in chilly, chest-deep water in swamps at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida in the middle of February. |  Official
U.S.M.C. Photo by LCpl Mathew H. Lynch |
In 1989, a Marine lieutenant was convicted of dereliction of duty for the death of an enlisted man who was left behind during a training exercise in the Mojave Desert in California. He was sentenced to four months confinement and dismissal from the service. Two sergeants were convicted of negligence and received reductions in rank.
In a case in April 1956, which stirred up a national debate and inspired a movie, a Marine drill instructor was court-martialed after six recruits drowned during a night hike at the boot camp at Parris Island, S.C.
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