When our son, L/Cpl Justin Sharratt, was exonerated of murder charges involving a firefight in Haditha,Iraq our family was finally able to sleep. We set out to piece together our lives and make some sense as to what happened to us. Bringing Justin home seemed to be the medication our family needed. With Gods help and the support of thousands we made it through this dark period in our lives. Our family can now enjoy today, look ahead to tomorrow and plan for the future.
Our family has tried to return to normal, but Haditha still haunts us. No matter how hard we try, no matter how much we want to forgive, there are questions we need answered.
We are not seeking revenge, we are not seeking retribution, we are asking for justice. We wanted to put Haditha behind us……..we just wanted to forget and finally end the journey. Justin still loves the United States Marine Corps. He is proud to have served this country. A Marine for life……
On 25 September 2008, through our attorney Noah Geary, Justin has filed a civil lawsuit in Federal Court naming John Murtha as defendant. We believe John Murtha has the answers to the majority of our questions. In a recent article on the Defend Our Marines website(www.defendourmarines.org) Retired LtCol Colby Vokey revealed his suspicions that a former NCIS agent on Murtha’s staff leaked classified information on Haditha to the media. How much did Murtha really know when he appeared on national television on 17 May 2006 when he called our son a “cold blooded murder?” Did his political ambitions influence his statements to the media about the events of Haditha? Did Murtha’s position as Chairman of the Sub-committee on Military Appropriations allow him to influence charging Our Haditha Marines? Did Murtha and SecNav Donald Winter participate in an Undue Command Influence scenario in regards to Haditha? And finally, can John Murtha be allowed to call United States Marines “cold blooded murderers”and not be held accountable for his slander and trashing the Constitutional rights of our son?
We are hoping a court of law will allow us to ask John Murtha these questions. Whatever the outcome of this lawsuit, our family has decided our journey cannot end until we try. I don’t know if these questions would even be allowed, but maybe, just maybe some of our questions will finally be answered.
God Bless Our Haditha Marines
Darryl, Theresa, Jaclyn, former L/Cpl Justin Sharratt
I always thought the second I heard Justin’s charges were dropped that our lives would instantly go back to ‘normal.’ To my surprise, it did not happen; yet at the same time I think we are all finally settling down and looking ahead.
Justin spent the past five months home in Pennsylvania, where he and two fellow Marines kept our parents busy! They worked on the Jeep, fixed their motorcycles, played video games, and enjoyed the holidays with our family. In mid-February the boys left and headed back to California. They are now living near San Diego, working and planning their future. Justin plans on attending a mechanics school in the fall and is in the preliminary stages of starting up his own shop. We are also working with a producer on a movie based on our family and the Haditha situation, which is very exciting, and quite crazy to even imagine! I am looking forward to spending time with Justin in March while out in San Diego on a business trip. Our family also is planning my Chicago wedding to my wonderful fiancé, Matt Smith, which will take place October 2008. Justin will be standing as our Best Man.
It is hard to make myself not remember the past, and to realize life is working out for the best. It is challenging to not relive the fear of the unknown, or to not worry about something terrible like this happening to another family. Regardless, nothing feels better than the happiness I experience after a two hour phone conversation with Justin, each minute spent catching up on the latest in our lives, both of us grinning ear to ear. Now that is the Justin I know… that is my little brother.
Justin’s four-year term with the United States Marine Corp officially ended on September 27, 2007. He is currently en route home to Pennsylvania with a U-Haul full of military uniforms, personal belongings, the Jeep, scooter, and his newly purchased motorcycle. I hope he left behind the pain and misery he had to experience from the past 20 months, but we cannot be sure just yet. Justin will be staying home for a few months, decompressing, working on his Jeep and bike, visiting friends, and enjoying time with our family for the holidays. We will also be meeting with news stations and talk shows, obligingly going through the motions of follow-up interviews.
Before we know it Christmas will be here and this year we have a lot to be grateful for, especially considering a year ago on December 21st we were at a press conference, listening to the USMC charge Justin with three counts of murder. I believe right now life is definitely on the upswing!
My brother is planning on returning to California after the New Year. We are going to spend some time looking into trade schools and colleges over the next few months and slowly begin piecing back together his future and realigning goals. It is a very exciting time for all of us! To celebrate in a way that only my brother can pull off, LCpl Sharratt took it upon himself to utilize the inexpensive haircuts issued at Camp Pendleton the day before his departure; he got a tri-hawk haircut (a three strip Mohawk)… I guess he wanted to make it count!
It is over. For the past 20 months I did not think I would ever be able to say those words. Yesterday, on August 9th, Justin had a 7:00 a.m. meeting with General Mattis, where he was handed the documents to sign that officially exonerated him. In a matter of ten minutes our lives changed, but this time for the better.
Throughout this series of unfortunate events, my family has seen prayers answered, and even some miracles. Ranging from a close friend contacting me in May 2006, after the inaccurate Time magazine article, and offering to send out an email to his firm in Chicago which, in turn, led our family to obtaining the strongest legal defense team; NewsMax collecting donations to help the Haditha Marine families with legal fees; emails sent from Marines, family, friends; the kindness of absolute strangers, who wrote daily blogs, made videos, posted stories, sent emails, and shared words of kindness and support. Without these people in our lives, a majority of them we have never met, but they knew my brother was innocent. They believed. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for everything.
If you are following the story of my brother then you are aware that his Article 32 went as well as it could have, given the circumstances. Lt. Col. Ware has recommended to Gen. Mattis to drop the murder charges against Justin. He does not see any relevant evidence against my brother, and acknowledges he was doing his job, a task he was trained to do by the USMC. With this wonderful news, a small burden has been lifted from the shoulders of my family. Although we all have embedded in our minds to not jump ahead or assume anything, I think we all have a newfound glimmer of hope. This euphoric feeling is being enhanced with every email we read, every message we respond to, every encouraging phone call we receive. It can be read about in the papers; listened to on the radio; seen on the television. Most importantly, it is heard in the voices of my family.
The phrase ‘everything happens for reason’ is always pressed on someone when they cannot grasp why a situation or circumstance popped up into their lives and made a mess of things. I learned to stop asking myself this question, realizing it only added to the confusion that currently spins through my thoughts. However, I am a bit suspicious of the odds that the majority of our family has made plans, all at different times, and for various reasons, to return home to Pennsylvania next weekend. Maybe because it is my Mom’s birthday, or we have not seen my brother for a long time… or perhaps since ‘everything happens for a reason.’
I tend to avoid saying my hopes, prayers, or dreams out loud just in case they do not happen; but today I will. I close my eyes and imagine us all sitting out on the back deck, laughing at stories (including my favorite of a five-year-old Justin asking Moms why there are so many dogs out in the pasture… they were really cows), and then the phone rings. The caller will be our attorney, Gary Myers. He begins the conversation saying he has news, and we all gather around the phone, listening with a level of intensity that you can feel. His words will blur, but I manage to decipher Gen. Mattis dropped the charges. That my brother is free. That this nightmare is over. That is the reverie of my family.
