(San Jose Mercury) The family of a Santa Clara Marine who took his life in Afghanistan last year after several hours of hazing is accusing the military of not doing enough to stop the practice and not properly punishing one of the perpetrators.
With two other Marines set to stand trial soon in Hawaii in connection with the beating just before Lance Cpl. Harry Lew's suicide, several members of Congress from the Bay Area and other parts of California -- including Lew's aunt, Rep. Judy Chu -- are pushing for congressional hearings on hazing, an issue they say is a significant and sometimes racially charged problem in the U.S. military.
For Lew's family, angry that the first Marine tried in the case was allowed to remain in the military despite pleading guilty to assault, the issue is simple: They say they have been denied justice.
"Harry's death left a hole in our hearts," Carmen Lew, Harry Lew's older sister, said at a Saturday teleconference based in Santa Clara and Los Angeles. "We want to make sure no other military family will have to suffer like we did."
Lew, 21, shot himself in the head in April, shortly after enduring several hours of beatings and humiliation by several fellow Marines after the Santa Clara native, who had just joined the unit in a dangerous area of Afghanistan, fell asleep several times while on watch. Lew's fellow Marines poured sand in his mouth and face, kicked him and punched him.
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