Marines charged for urinating on corpses

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WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- U.S. Marines accused of urinating on corpses of Taliban militants were charged for that and other Uniform Code of Military Justice violations, officials said.

Staff Sgt. Joseph Chamblin and Staff Sgt. Edward Deptola were charged last week with violating several sections of the code for their actions in Afghanistan's Helmand province July 27, 2011, including not reporting that grenade launcher discharged accidentally, Stars and Stripes reported Monday.

Other charges filed Friday against Chamblin and Deptola, both with the Camp Lejeune, N.C.-based 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, include dereliction of duty for failing to properly supervise junior Marines, failing to stop indiscriminate firing of weapons, and failing to stop and report the misconduct of junior Marines, Marine spokesman Col. Sean Gibson said.

The Marine Corps began its investigation into the incident after a video posted on YouTube in January showed several laughing Marines appearing to urinate on the bodies of dead militants.

Deptola was also charged with wrongfully firing an enemy machine gun that was recovered and failure to stop others from unnecessarily damaging Afghan compounds, Gibson said.

Three Marines received non-judicial punishment after admitting they posed with the bodies, videoed the incident and didn't report it, Stars and Stripes said.

Several related cases are pending and other disciplinary action will be announced later, the Marine Corps said.