Family Stands By a Marine Under Investigation

"If they were going to charge us, then you may as well charge every Marine and soldier in Iraq," the Marine said. He added that members of his squad "did not realize that civilians had been killed until they went back through the houses to assess collateral damage."

Military officials familiar with the investigation said there is some evidence that could show wrongdoing, including images, taken by an unmanned aircraft, that appear to show that a group of civilians shot near their car -- which had approached the Marine convoy after the bomb went off -- were executed. At least one Marine has told officials that he saw another Marine standing over the bodies and emptying his rifle's clip into them, according to two people closely familiar with the case.

Others have said that the shots that killed women and children inside the houses appeared to be "well-aimed," though defense attorneys have challenged that assessment as speculation because there is so little physical evidence to support it. The official investigation did not begin until months after the shootings, and some critical evidence was lost.

It is unclear what, if any, charges the Marines will face. Officials said this week that criminal charges could be announced in the next few weeks against as many as half a dozen men.

"My client did not engage in any conduct that we believe is criminal," said Gary Myers, an attorney for Sharratt. "Our position is that anything he did engaging the enemy was consistent with rules of engagement at the time."

Sharratt enlisted in the Marines just before his 18th birthday -- a decision his family supported -- and deployed to Iraq in 2004. He spent time in Fallujah, where he took part in the major offensive to take the city and used close-combat "clearing" tactics on enemy houses. He was deployed to Haditha the next year.

The Sharratts used to worry about their son's safety and how he dealt with the loss of friends -- "Don't worry about me, I can handle it," he had said to his mother. Now they worry that he is caught up in a political storm.

"Somebody's going to pay, and we're so afraid it's going to be the young guys," Theresa Sharratt said. "He believes he didn't do anything wrong."

But Darryl Sharratt says America has already convicted his son and the other Marines, and he feels helpless, lost, as he awaits a decision on possible charges.

"For 18 years, I protected him. And now I can't do anything about it," he said. "I just want the Marine Corps to stand up and say the Marines couldn't have done this and didn't do it. I blame them for letting it go on for this long."