| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq |
| Haditha Marine Father has a Conversation with John Murtha |
| 2007-07-25 |
| H/T Mudville Throughout this Haditha investigation our family has believed in the innocence of our son L/Cpl Justin Sharratt, we knew he was innocent. There are things I do not understand and I would like to find the answers. We do not seek revenge, but we would like to see justice. In a conversation with Congressman John Murtha, my questions still remain unanswered. With the help of the American people, I hope to find justice. On Wednesday morning, July 17th I spoke with Congressman John Murtha via telephone from his Washington, DC office. We had a courteous conversation. I knew what to expect from a career politician and Congressman Murtha did not disappoint. Mr. Murtha avoided answering the hard questions and I was unable to press him for the answers. I wanted the conversation to remain amicable and decided to let him speak and avoid a heated confrontation. At no time during the dialogue would Mr. Murtha acknowledge the impending exoneration of my son. I pressed him to use the word exoneration but the best I could get was “things seem to have gone well in your son’s Article 32. The General is a fair man and I believe he will do the right thing.” I replied, “Lt. Col Paul Ware presented a strong recommendation for exoneration and we are anticipating Lt. Gen James Mattis following this recommendation.” Mr. Murtha asked me if I had served in the military. He recalled his visits with injured Marines, soldiers and sailors. He said he supports our troops and it is the war he does not condone. Mr Murtha believes combat operations in Iraq have put an enormous strain on our Armed Forces. The stress of combat situations has led our troops to kill innocent civilians. I pointed out to Mr. Murtha, “Our Haditha Marines are innocent until proven guilty.” It seems he is again denying our Marines their Constitutional rights of due process and the presumption of innocence. Mr. Murtha replied that we have a Marine (Mendoza) testifying that innocent women and children were killed in Haditha. I retorted that he is again believing the reports of the media and Mendoza was granted immunity for his lies. Mendoza has changed his testimony at least two times. NCIS may have threatened him with deportation and denial of US citizenship. This time I scolded him, “I witnessed their(NCIS) conduct first hand in my son’s Article 32.” I questioned Congressman Murtha as to his statements of 17 May 2006. On national television, in front of millions of Americans, he stated “Marines killed innocent civilians in cold blood.” I asked him why he denied these Marines their Constitutional rights of due process and the presumption of innocence. Again the Congressman used his experience to side step the answer. Mr. Murtha stated his intentions were to point out the stress our military was under in Iraq. He replied we would not win the hearts of the Iraqi people by killing women and children. I again snapped, “Our Haditha Marines have not been convicted of killing innocents and are innocent until proven guilty.” I believe this conversation was the first step in obtaining justice for Our Haditha Marines. I did not expect Mr. Murtha to admit to or apologize for any wrongdoing in his role to railroad my son and his Marine comrades. The American people now know that his unfounded and untruthful allegations were used to further his political agenda. It is my intention to ask the Congress of the United States to censure Representative John Murtha and hold hearings to explain his conduct in respect to the Haditha incident. I will ask the American people to question his blatant disregard for the Constitutional rights of Our Haditha Marines. I will campaign to the voters of Pa Congressional District 12 to oust Representative Murtha from his elected office. The American people deserve better, we must demand better representation from our elected officials. Darryl Sharratt Proud American, Proud father of L/Cpl Justin L. Sharratt Editor’s note: Mr. Sharratt lives is Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional district which John Murtha represents. |
| Posted by:Sherry |
| #20 BTDT has a point in only one respect. BTDT likens this father to Cindy Sheehan. Id don't think they are the same, but they certainly have the same opportunity. This father has the potential to seriously damage Murtha in his home state during his next election. His son should be cleared by then and probably will be out of the military. I don't necessarily recommend that option to the dad but the option is there. Murtha is smoking a stick of dynamite if he messes with this dad. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2007-07-25 23:44 |
| #19 "Those Marines were pissed and wanted blood, that's the general biology of a Marine." -haha, sometimes yeah -- we do like to fight, however, we often prefer to do it within the confines of the ROE and geneva. Sure, shit happens sometimes -- does so in every war. I know of things that prolly could've been construed as violations by the p.c. media clowns (btw - I can't overstate how much I despise the msm) and the jagoffs, but were done w/the intent of saving Marines and eliminating turds. Gross violations get pushed up the chain, usually -- too hard to cover them up & our pre-dep trng is pretty solid which minimizes most b.s. Hell, every time my guys did a convoy and shot a round or a flare at some hajji vehicle too stupid to stay back more than 50m -- we had to make a report -- in order to avoid possible investigations --borderline insane. In the haditha case -- where it seems the prosecution can't get it's act together they need to dismiss the charges. Doesn't change the fact that Murtha's a slimy pork loving disgrace of a former Marine -- in his case I'll use the negative connotation as EX-Marine. No self-respecting jarhead condemns his bro's until all the facts are in. F*ck you John Murtha -- ass clown. |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2007-07-25 21:09 |
| #18 Thanks! Abu do you love, DUH you'd think i'd remember damn it! ;-) |
| Posted by: RD 2007-07-25 19:49 |
| #17 Snipers + IEDs = Self Preservation + Hair Triggers |
| Posted by: McZoid 2007-07-25 19:14 |
| #16 Good points...and he did corrct himself to some small degree. So, perhaps not a troll - but the characterization of the biological makeup of your typical marine did not sit well. If BTDT has enough brass to grace us with additional wisdom, we'll have a better measure. |
| Posted by: Rex Mundi 2007-07-25 19:06 |
| #15 Pliny Craiting8203...and I agree with you 100%. He can believe the moon is made of green cheese. Whether he is ignorant or just trolling for feedback...a good portion of what he said is either unsubstantiated or KosKidKrap. |
| Posted by: anymouse 2007-07-25 18:33 |
| #14 Rex__ he's not a troll. His opinions are offensive but he's entitled to them. Note that he did not froth, drool, sputter or leave other bodily fluids on the site. No death to bush, cuss words, stupid slogans etc. I don't want to see people banned for expressing an opinion contrary to the local standard.... on the other hand, he IS full of diaper fruit. |
| Posted by: Pliny Craiting8203 2007-07-25 18:27 |
| #13 For the record.. Murtha is not a senator. he is a representitive in the house. |
| Posted by: Abu do you love 2007-07-25 18:02 |
| #12 re: Sen. Murtha How in the Hell have we reached a point so low in our history that a sitting Senator can break his sworn duty and oath to protect our Constitution and yet escape the full scrutiny from our How in the Hell have we reached a point so low in our history that a sitting Senator could break his sworn oath to protect our Constitution and escape the sword of Justice for doing so? Is our Justice System so dysfunctional that our trusted servants within cannot stand with and help that blindfolded Lady Justice holding her sword and scales? Is our Citizen government so broken that it cannot at least How in the Hell has leadership of the once It all points to a corruption so foul that it makes this AmericanÂ’s Yes The Truth has singled out the one who has tarnished the honor of the United States Marines. We must stand united against Sen. Murtha and vanquish him, for he and his ilk represents a greater danger to America than the hate-filled terrorist who pierced our Nations Heart on 9/11. /this is as nicist/politest letter that i can write reguards f'g murtha, because if I told you how I really feel I'd be sink trapped for a week. //the real Rage Boy me, RD |
| Posted by: RD Anti Troll 2007-07-25 17:21 |
| #11 Dear BTDT: When not writing for The New Republic, what do you actualy do for a living. |
| Posted by: Total War 2007-07-25 16:19 |
| #10 Not to worry 'mouse, allow me to be the one to disrespectfully say that BTDT is full of shit. I bet he tells his less liberal friends that he "supports the troops" too. What an asshole. |
| Posted by: Crusader 2007-07-25 16:14 |
| #9 I add my concurrence that "been there" is a troll and a fool: he doubtless bloviates against "stereotypes" of Muslims and terrorists, but operates under the Liberal Media programmed stereotypes of Democrats and Marines. Also note that he shies away from the obvious disregard for "civil rights" that Murtha, and he himself, seems to demonstrate. Typical hypocrisy, but then again, he wouldn't agree that he was because hypocrisy implies living in violation of a moral code, and he probably doesn't have a moral code worth more than spit. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2007-07-25 16:12 |
| #8 Not to worry 'mouse, allow me to be the one to disrespectfully say that BTDT is full of shit. Your full of shit, troll. |
| Posted by: Rex Mundi 2007-07-25 15:49 |
| #7 C'mon, Haditha was what it was. I would respectively argue you don't have a clue "what Haditha was". A lot of the official testimony, the gun camera footage from the Predator, comms transcripts, etc. are not on the public record. Thus to make any judgment...unless you are/were an officer sitting on the board, a JAG officer involved in the case, or a dependent...you are disingenuous. Those Marines were pissed and wanted blood, that's the general biology of a Marine I would respectivley say you are full of $h*t. Obviously you don't know the Marines. There's little difference in this parent and Cindy Sheehan. No. Apparently you have no observational skills, or a poorly hidden agenda. Sheehan is a media whore using the tragedy of her son as a vehicle to push her agenda on an international stage. Mr. Sharratt is keeping a very low profile and appears only concerned about his son. Both wish thier children recieved better treatment from the shabby Bush government that put them in the situation to begin with Everyone in the military...myself, my son, Justin Sharratt, Casey Sheehan...are/were all volunteers. |
| Posted by: anymouse 2007-07-25 15:43 |
| #6 I knew what to expect from a career politician and Congressman Murtha did not disappoint. Ouch - Mr. Sharrat is sharp. |
| Posted by: xbalanke 2007-07-25 15:39 |
| #5 I should not have mentioned Bush personally, I mean the government as a whole. |
| Posted by: been there, done that 2007-07-25 14:58 |
| #4 C'mon, Haditha was what it was. Those Marines were pissed and wanted blood, that's the general biology of a Marine. There's little difference in this parent and Cindy Sheehan. Both wish thier children recieved better treatment from the shabby Bush government that put them in the situation to begin with. |
| Posted by: been there, done that 2007-07-25 14:50 |
| #3 I see Murtha has trotted out his latest surrender/troop withdrawal plan today. Tool. |
| Posted by: Rex Mundi 2007-07-25 14:22 |
| #2 My son is a Marine. If that was my boy, I would not have been as nice to that pompous jerk. |
| Posted by: anymouse 2007-07-25 13:41 |
| #1 Splendid letter...and a very calm and rational approach to dealing with Murtha. I do NOT believe that I could be so calm and rational, were I in Darryl's shoes. I will wholeheartedly support his censuring and ousting of Murtha...including with financial support!! Murtha is scum...and needs to GO! |
| Posted by: Justrand 2007-07-25 12:46 |