Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-07-15
BY CECIL HOLLAND
Star star Correspondent


Star star Correspondent
PARIS ISLAND. S. c., July
IA 31-year-old former drill
instructor goes on trial here
Monday-and with him goes, IN
a sense, the proud Marine Corps
For lean, so1l-spoken Sergt
Matthew c. Mckeon. who
marched rs recruits into a tidal
marshland known as Ribbon
Greek on a moonless Sunday
night in April and brought out
only 70 of them, 1t is a matter
of freedom or prison and dis
honorable discharge.
He will face a general court
martial on manSlaughter and
other charges, including drinking
while on duty on that fateful
April 8 If found guilty on all
charges, he could be imprisoned
for % years.
For the Marine Corps, it is
something else-and for that
reason the trial of Sergt Mckeon
has attracted probably more at
tention than any court-martial
since that of famed Gen. Billy
Mitchell.
Korean Veteran
In tins trial Of the sergeant
a veteran OF Korea and father
OF TWO small children, with a
third expected next month. the
Marine Corps, as Gen. Randolph
Nice. Pate, Marine commandment,
has said. also is on trial as to
its responsibility"
The tragic drowning of the
six recruits. including a l7-year-
old Fairfax County boy. has
brought into question the
Marine Corps entire training
practices and supervision which
have not been settled by an
overhaullng ordered by Gen.
Pate at the base here and in
San Diego.
A nagsing undercurrent of
thought in the whole tragedy
and its aftermath is whether the
Marine Corps conveniently closed
its collective eye to the methods.
sometimes brutal. used py drill
instructors in hammering fight
ing men out of raw recruits
and thereby condoned a slJua-
ton that led TO the Ribbon
Greek death march.
MAY Call Pate as Witness
That this thought Will figure
largely in Sergt. McKeon 5 de-
Tense was indicated by 52-year-
old Emile lola Berman. a New
York lawyer who heads counsel
for the accused.
Mr. Berman told neWsmen:
1t is my considered opinion
that traditions and training
methods of the corps are essen
tial elements in the case
Mr. Berman, a wartime Air
Force colonel who has been here
since Wednesday working on the
case. was asked if Gen. Pate
would be called as a witness.
Do YOU think he would come
down?" MI. Berman countered
He declined to disclose whether
he would request the comman-
dant as witness.
Trial May Last 3 Weeks
Mr.. Berman estimated the
trial would run at least three
weeks The prosecution has
called IS witnesses. mostly en-
listed men in Sergt. McKeon S
old outfit. and Mr. Berman said
we will have at least that many
and probably many more. +"
All survivors of the death
march are here for the trial
although they have completed
their basic here and moved on
TO Camp Lejuene and other
places for advanced training.
Just what witnesses would be
called in Sergt. AlcKeons de-
Tense. Nj. Berman did not dis
close But in talking with the
sergeant in the presence Of
neWsmen, he remarked. Il think
We have some of your side nov ="
Sergt McKeon spoke up
quickly and said
Il wouldn't want them to tes-
tify if 1t would ieopardlze their
career wouldn't want them
to testify that 1t has happened
before
Marines Aid Defense
He referred apparently to a
night march into Ribbon Creek,
and a reporter asked if there
had been other marches.
Mr. Berman declined to let
the sergeant answer.
Associated with Mr.. Berman
In the defense Of the sergeant
are two other civilian lawyers
and three Marine officers. in
GLIDING 1t. Alaric w. Valentln of
Philadelphia and Mai. John R.
De Barr Of Northumberland, Pa,
both graduates Of George Wash
ington University Law School.
Sergeant a Symbal
In the trial, as in the fatal
march, Sergt McKcon will stand
forth as symbol of his own
human fallings as a leader. or
the shortcomings of the Marine
Corps, or both.
The sergeant said he led the
recruits INTO the marshland ITO
teach them discipline after
there had been some frollcking
during smoking period earlier
In the day.
The Marine Corps, on the
other hand has said such night
marches we're not authorized
Moreover the Marines SAID there
was evidence the sergeant had
been drinking vodka during the
day
Only vaguely so far has there
a.I;l, HON