frank wuterich (tying for last place)
Written on June 25, 2008
late last night paul sent me a link to a story about the marines involved in the haditha massacre. it seems they have all been cleared, except for one.
as a bit of background, this is from the NPR website:
Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, the leader of a Marine squad that killed 24 civilians in the Iraqi town of Haditha, faces a military hearing Thursday at Camp Pendleton. He is charged with 18 counts of unpremeditated murder in the largest criminal case to emerge from the war in Iraq.
On the morning of November 19, 2005, as Sgt. Wuterich’s squad approached Haditha, a roadside bomb killed a fellow marine. Wuterich said the dismembered body is a sight he will never forget.
About 100 yards away, Wuterich, who had never been in combat before, saw a taxi with five young men in it. In an interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes, Wuterich said the men were ordered out of the car and “as they were coming around, they started to take off. So I shot at them.”
this is staff sergeant frank wuterich, with his daughter, talia, at their home in camp pendleton, california. it was shot on september 5th, 2006, and was one of the strangest and most interesting assignments i’d ever been involved in. the story was for TIME magazine, and they seemed to have an exclusive on it. the assignment was strange because of the exclusive – i found out about the shoot maybe a week before it happened, and was instructed to tell no one any details about it whatsoever. it was a big story, and breaking news, and the more excited i got about it the harder it was to refrain from talking about it. i started to feel like i was in a spy movie. i couldn’t tell my friends or family or my girlfriend anything about where i was going or what i was doing, not until it was published. when i was processing the pictures after the shoot i had to hide them from people so no one could know the subject matter until the magazine came out. we were sneaking into the base, so i couldn’t even bring an assistant on the shoot.
i drove down to san diego, picked up the writer at a hotel and went over to camp pendleton. we had a cover, in case the security guard at the gate stopped us. we were officially going to see someone else. the military wasn’t too keen on wuterich talking to the press. but i drove up to the gate and even though i had a big car full of gear they just waved us on through. i guess we got lucky. he was living in a house on base, with his wife, marisol, and two daughters. marisol was pregnant at the time. frank was supposed to be out of the military at that point, but they were keeping him in just until they figured out what to do with him. i guess two years later it’s still ongoing.
i was really surprised to find a relatively normal looking house, and even more surprised to see that it was just frank and his family there to talk to us. no lawyer, no official military liaison. still, he was expressly forbidden by his lawyer to discuss specifics of that day in haditha, so instead we got to talk to him as a human being, not as a soldier. it’s difficult to reconcile any of the details of what happened in iraq with this guy i saw sitting on the couch in front of me. he looked like any normal, clean cut guy in his mid twenties. he played guitar. he liked rock and jazz, he was an honor student in high school. he loved his wife and his kids. he joined the military in part, he said, because he wanted to be in the band.
now it seems that wuterich has filed a lawsuit against congressman murtha for libel and defamation. murtha was instrumental in bringing the haditha massacre to the public consciousness. the charges against wuterich now stand at 12 counts of voluntary manslaughter. this is all brings to my mind the idea of the craziness of war – how it’s all about semantics. it’s okay to kill people, just so long as you do it according to the rules we make up. and if you don’t follow the rules just make sure nobody finds out. then again, i don’t know how these soldiers do it. regardless of your politics, whether you think we should be in this war or not, when you look at the situation it’s hard not to view it as an even tie for last place. is anybody actually winning here? in a situation that’s designed where you have to kill people to progress, is there a way not to come in last? you’re sending kids off into hell, they’re scared out of their minds and miserable, they generally don’t speak the language and everything probably looks like a threat. if ever there was a lose-lose situation, this has got to be it.
when TIME was laying out the original article they were initially going to go with my first select – the B&W shot below. it was to run a full page, no text, and i was really thrilled. it was great space, a great layout and i was really pleased with the picture. it had a quiet that i quite liked. then the editors (not the photo dept.) started second-guessing the picture. the writer said “a marine would never lower his head” and they started worrying that maybe the picture made wuterich seem guilty. maybe it made too strong a statement. i kind of thought that was the point (not an assumption of guilt, but of making a statement of some kind), and tried to argue it, but eventually the photo was swapped out for an alternate of him looking straight ahead. it was okay, but nowhere near as good in my opinion. still, the story got good space in the magazine, which is always satisfying, and it was a unique experience to be involved in. my sincere thanks, as always, go to martha bardach at TIME, a continual champion for photographers.
some relevant links:
the original news story corporal bennett sent me that prompted this post.
the original TIME profile of wuterich in which my pictures appeared.
the wikipedia entry on frank wuterich.
frank wuterich’s home page.
wuterich on 60 minutes – this is long, but it’s really worth it.
an NPR news story on wuterich.
the haditha story broke when an eyewitness to the attacks reported what had happened. this is a youtube video interview with one of the eyewitnesses.
(the opinions expressed in all these links are, of course, not necessarily reflective of our beliefs here at msgphoto.com. if you have a problem with them, blame them, not me.)
Filed in: news, photo stuff, pictures, published, publishing, updates.
Amazing story! Fantastic photos Max. He does look like a sweet kid, but ironically not in the photo they chose. In the one you like he looks like he could be praying which is pretty powerful, I really like it.
I agree though, total f’ing bullshit that these kids are sent there to kill people and then called murderers. Many of them are on their third and fourth tours without break and many were in the reserves and never really prepared for combat. At least Murtha is publicly against the war or I’d have worse things to say.
Oh, and, you are SO cool.
I think your photos do a great job of masking the monster that this man really is. While seeing the pictures of him with his daughter. I started to wonder if any of the men and women he is accussed of killing had childern? Just one final thing for SGT. Wuterich. Iraq did not make this man a cold blooded evil killer. He did that all on his own !
It is real easy to enjoy the freedom that this country of ours provides for us. Hell it is taken for granted everyday by most. Freedom is not free and the cost is not pretty. Regardless of the reason for joining the military, when you are in a combat situation, it is you or them. Bottom line. And the issue of the deaceased having children, At the end of that fatefull day, there was the unfortuneate fact that children were going to lose a parent, American or Iraqi. Everything that has been held against SSgt Wuterich has been politically motivated. He did his job and I would serve in a combat zone with him anyday of the week and twice on Sunday. I do appreciate you expressing your opinion though. Thankfully in this wonderful nation of ours, anyone can say or criticize anything or anyone without consequence. (Unlike a lot of places in the world where a bullet would displace the contents of your head) Also you called SSgt Wuterich a cold-blooded evil killer and a monster, Why? People who complain of policies and laws and war have never had the chance to either live or visit a country less fortunate. Sleep well under the blanket of protection and freedom my brothers have provided for over 230 years. “Wars are, of course, as a rule to be avoided; but they are far better than certain kinds of peace. ” Theodore Roosevelt
SSgt Wuterich, you will be cleared and finally able to resume your life.
Semper Fidelis
When you stare long into the abyss, the abyss stares back into you.
We as Americans need to remember what we represent. If we claim we are better than the beast, we need to be sure we do not become the beast.
There are rules in war to prevent it from bringing us all to the level of predators.
Lately, I see more and more posts on the internet justifying this proud nation becoming a beast. Many Americans need to reflect more on what it means to be an American.
Unfortunately in war there are losses of control. I think this is what has happened here.
Give this man a fair trail.
Your right, give this man a fair trial. And how about we give the hundreds or men who are detained in Guantanamo prison a fair trial to prove their innocence?
Like Alexis Davis said, the first photo is amazing because it makes you wonder. He probably killed fathers, mothers and innocent children as young as his daughter. He is a murderer.
Almost everyone on here has said something that shocked me.
1. Angelique, I do appreciate you support (-ish) for the soldiers and Marines serving our country, but I take exception to a number of things you have said. First, our servicemen (and women) are not sent over “there” to kill people. To be sure, killing may be required and they must always be prepared to, but that is not the reason they are sent there. Second, “to kill people” implies that they are supposed to just kill indiscrimately. This is not true at all. Third, some servicemen ARE on their third and fourth tours, but not without a break (unless they volunteered for another tour), and while this is hard, they did sign the contract– It is an all-volunteer military. And fourth, “many were in the reserves and never really prepared for combat” is absolutely ridiculous. Of course many were in the reserves, but they still go through training, and the advance training that they receive in the immediate train-up time right before a deployment is specifically gear toward combat.
2. Alexis Davis, “I think your photos do a great job of masking the monster that this man really is.” Wow, how in the world would you possibly know that? How can you make that assumption? What is wrong with you? You are either hastily assuming that he is guilty or you blindly believe information that other people spoon-feed you. Do you realize that he has not been convicted of ANYTHING? He is a normal human being and should be treated as such. “Innocent until proven guilty” must not be in your lexicon.
“Iraq did not make this man a cold blooded evil killer. He did that all on his own !” I beg to differ. “Iraq” did not make him ANYTHING, and he did not become a cold blooded evil killer at all, because he is still innocent as of this writing.
You should be ashamed of yourself, alexis. Perhaps, one day, you will be accused of a high-profile crime of which you are (theoretically) innocent, and the media will rush to judge you, and then on that day, would will finally understand the gravity of your words on this page.
However, from your ignorant, assuming, and judgmental post, I am guessing that you will never even remember that you wrote this.
Sad.
3. Oscar Alvarez is the one person on here who did NOT shock me with anything he said, as I agree with him 100%. Kudos to you.
So I will take a bit of space to expound on one particular point. SSG Wuterich MAY be guilty, and if so, he should be crushed. BUT AS OF THIS POINT, he is NOT, and should be treated as such. “Rep.” John Murtha is a horrible man, and his remarks are seditious at best. But SSG Wuterich is innocent (as of this writing) and any rush to judgment should bring shame on those doing the judging.
There is also the issue of those who have never been in combat “Monday-morning-quarterbacking” those who HAVE been in combat, but this is not the issue as of this point.
4. Alex, “Unfortunately in war there are losses of control. I think this is what has happened here.” Again, how in the world would you know that? Based on biased media reporting? C’mon
“Give this man a fair [trial].” You seem like an objective viewer, and yet you seem ready to rush to judgment. “Innocent until proven guilty.”
5. Dee, “Your right, give this man a fair trial. And how about we give the hundreds or men who are detained in Guantanamo prison a fair trial to prove their innocence?” Grammatical errors notwithstanding, the Guantanamo detainees/enemy combatants are not the issue here. SSG Wuterich and his actions in Haditha are.
“He probably killed fathers, mothers and innocent children as young as his daughter. He is a murderer.” Who the heck are you to say that? You say to give him a fair trial, but if you were on his jury, I believe that we all know which way you would vote. You say give him a fair trial, but your very next paragraph says that you think he is guilty. How can it be a fair trial when people like you will be satisfied with nothing less than his conviction, actual evidence be damned?
As far as the Guantanamo detainees are concerned, they do not get to have a “fair trial.” They are essentially POWs (except that they cannot be legally called that because an official declaration of war is impossible) and POWs do not receive any “trial” rights under the Geneva convention.
And before anyone starts getting upset about “inhumane” treatment of anyone at G-bay, let us look at the other side of the coin. What has happened to the last dozen or so civilians “captured” (read: kidnapped) by the “other side.” Sham trials, forced readings, torture (actual torture, not sleep deprivation and leaving the lights on at night), and beheadings are the norm. To be sure, the “other side” has not signed the Geneva convention and as such, has no obligation to follow it. However, I think we can all agree that being held in Guantanamo Bay for an indeterminate amount of time is preferably to having your head cut off on an internet video. That said, there is no real comparison here.
Mai Lai Massacre comes to mind…..as does William Calley, he got off with 3 yrs under house arrest. I guess we have to wait and see the out come of this trial……How do you sleep Mr Wuterich?