TOKYO -- An American sailor faces a general court-martial on a murder charge in the Oct. 27 fatal beating of shipmate Allen R. Schindler, who was being discharged because he was homosexual, U.S. Navy officials said Wednesday.
Capt. Douglas Bradt, commander of the USS Belleau Wood, recommended that Airman Apprentice Terry Helvey, 21, be tried for murder in the slaying of the 22-year-old Schindler, beaten to death in a restroom outside U. S. Naval Fleet Activities in Sasebo in southern Japan.
'The government is prepared to go forward with this trial immediately, and will recommend the court-martial be scheduled as soon as possible,' said a statement from the commander of U.N. Naval Forces, Japan, at Yokosuka Navy Base.
Bradt recommended the court-martial following an investigation last month.
Schindler's killing shocked many at the Sasebo base. Although the incident occurred months ago, it attracted heightened attention with the United States torn over U.S. President Bill Clinton's election campaign pledge to end the military ban on homosexuals.
Helvey and Schindler were assigned to theUSS Belleau Wood, an amphibious assault ship.
Helvey also was charged with assaulting two shore patrolmen the same night and lying under oath. He has been held as a suspect since Oct. 28.
Six days before the Belleau Wood arrived at Sasebo last Sept. 30, Schindler, a radioman, reportedly told his commanding officer he was a homosexual. Soon after, he was processed for an administrative discharge because of the Navy's policy against acknowledged homosexuals on active duty.
After being confined to the ship for a month, Schindler was allowed to go ashore in late October. After 11 p.m. local time on Oct. 27, several witnesses saw him being battered relentlessly against the fixtures of a public restroom in a park.
Two sailors were seen running from the scene, and the next day, military police arrested Airman Charles E. Vins, 20, and Helvey.
Vins was court-martialed Nov. 22 after admitting his involvement in Schindler's murder and agreeing to testify for the prosecution. He was sentenced to a year in jail as well as a bad-conduct discharge for failing to report a serious crime and resisting arrest.
Some homosexual activists have charged that Navy officials initially tried to cover up what they knew was a case of 'gay bashing,' but Navy officials have denied that allegation.
The Navy said officers on the Belleau Wood were not aware of any harassment, threats or physical abuse directed against Schindler after he disclosed he was homosexual and said Schindler had not reported any harassment.
But Schindler's friends have reported he was harassed by shipmates because of his homosexuality.
In published accounts of a journal Schindler kept, he wrote, 'Here I am on a ship I don't want to be on going to a place I don't want to go.' After leaving high school in Chicago Heights, Ill., when he was 18 and joining the Navy, Schindler wrote that his ultimate desire was to serve on the aircraft carrier Midway, which he did in 1991.
'Some dreams do come true,' he wrote.
