IV 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 167 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with respect to Second 

Lieutenant Ilario Pantano, United States Marine Corps. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 17, 2005 

Mr. JONES of North Carolina submitted the following resolution; which was 

referred to the Committee on Armed Services 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with 

respect to Second Lieutenant Ilario Pantano, United 

States Marine Corps. 

Whereas Ilario Pantano enlisted in the United States Marine 

Corps on August 23, 1989, through an early entry program at the age of 17; 

Whereas Ilario Pantano fought honorably in Operation 

Desert Storm in 1991; 

Whereas Ilario Pantano returned to the United States in 

1991 as a corporal and again served his country honorably in Yugoslavia, Morocco, and the Mediterranean; 

Whereas Sergeant Pantano separated from the Marine Corps 

under with an honorable discharge, earned a bachelors 

degree in economics in three years, and spent eight years 
2 

•HRES 167 IH 

in the private sector as an energy trader and an entrepreneur in media and film; 

Whereas, following the attack on the Nation of September 

11, 2001, Ilario Pantano displayed courage, dedication to 

the Nation, and self-sacrifice by rejoining the Marine 

Corps and, after attending Officer Candidate School, was 

commissioned as a second lieutenant; 

Whereas in March 2004, Second Lieutenant Pantano was 

sent to Iraq to participate in Operation Iraqi Freedom; 

Whereas, on April 15th, 2004, Second Lieutenant Pantano 

led a platoon in Mahmudiyah, Iraq, that apprehended 

two Iraqis who were suspected insurgents; 

Whereas Second Lieutenant Pantano ordered the suspected 

insurgents to be detained, then ordered them to search 

their own vehicle in the event that it contained explosives; 

Whereas the vehicle’s seats were not bolted down, a tactic 

commonly used by insurgents to retrieve weapons, and 

nails and bolts were found in the trunk of the vehicle, 

items commonly found in improvised explosive devices; 

Whereas, in response to threatening movements by the suspected insurgents, Second Lieutenant Pantano took action in self defense that resulted in their deaths; 

Whereas accusations that Second Lieutenant Pantano’s actions were something other than self-defense did not surface until almost two months after the incident in 

Mahmudiyah; 

Whereas, in his Combat Fitness Report dated August 5, 

2004—nearly four months after the incident—Second 

Lieutenant Pantano’s superior officers gave the following 

evaluation of his performance from March through July, 

2004: 
3 

•HRES 167 IH 

(1) His ‘‘progression as a young platoon commander and leader has been impressive’’. 

(2) ‘‘With a calm demeanor that spoke of confidence, Lieutenant Pantano has led his platoon into 

urban combat in Latafiyah and he also conducted 

conventional operations in Fallujah and Zaidon 

Province, Iraq’’. 

(3) He is a Marine who ‘‘leads from the front 

always and balances his aggressive style with true 

concern for the welfare of his Marines’’. 

(4) He was ‘‘ready for increased responsibility,’’ 

and was a soldier who the Marine Corps should ‘‘retain, promote and assign to challenging assignments’’: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep2 resentatives that— 

3 (1) Second Lieutenant Ilario Pantano, United 

4 States Marine Corps, was defending the cause of 

5 freedom, democracy, and liberty in his actions of 

6 April 15, 2004, that resulted in the deaths of two 

7 suspected Iraqi insurgents and that subsequently 

8 have given rise to certain charges against him; and 

9 (2) the United States Government should dis10 miss all charges against Second Lieutenant Ilario 

11 Pantano arising from the actions referred to in 

12 paragraph (1). 

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