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All these years later, the Marines who survived are still haunted by the blinding flash and the piercing screams.
« I knew who some of the guys were that got hit, » Chris Covington remembers, « because I recognized their screams. »
On the night of April 12, 2004, a deadly explosion rocked a schoolhouse in Fallujah, Iraq, where U.S. troops had set up a temporary base. Two Marines died and a dozen were wounded, some severely.
But as seared as the fatal explosion is in the men’s memory, to the Pentagon it’s as if it never happened.
An NPR investigation found that the explosion at the schoolhouse in Fallujah was a tragic accident — the worst Marine-on-Marine « friendly fire » of recent decades. Officers determined almost immediately that the explosion was caused by an errant 81 mm mortar fired by the victims’ own comrades, yet the families of the dead men weren’t told for years, despite Marine Corps regulations. Some of the wounded have never been told.
Three officers involved in the deadly mortar fire were recommended for punishment, but that was rejected by the Marines’ ground commander in Iraq — Maj. Gen. James Mattis. Consequently, no one was ever disciplined.
And NPR found another secret: An officer who was part of the confusion, but was not cited for discipline, was the son of an important and powerful member of Congress. Then-1st Lt. Duncan D. Hunter was working in the command center that mistakenly approved the mortar launch. His father — U.S. Rep. Duncan L. Hunter — was then-chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, responsible for oversight of the war.
In interviews, Pentagon officials and officers involved didn’t explain why families were initially told the Marines died from hostile fire, or why the mishap isn’t used as a case study in Marine Corps training. Or why for years, the Pentagon claimed it had no record of the mishap or any investigations, until a federal judge forced the Marines to conduct additional searches and turn over documents in response to an NPR lawsuit.
« I thought some enemy blew himself up in our compound. My first thought. And that means we have people probably coming in the wire, » said retired Sgt. Maj. William Skiles. « So, it was smoke, I couldn’t see — flashlights everywhere, and screaming everywhere. »
Skiles remembers how confused he and others were by the blast. What had just happened? Did someone fumble a grenade? Was this a rocket that targeted them?
However, Marine commanders knew instantly that it was a terrible mistake.
« My heart sank, » said then-Lt. Col. Gregg Olson, who was the battalion commander and approved the mortar mission.
A Marine 81 mm mortar sailed into the school’s courtyard, killing Lance Cpls. Brad Shuder and Robert Zurheide, as well as an Iraqi interpreter.
