The first public look into details in the case of eight Camp Pendleton men charged with the kidnapping and murder of an Iraqi civilian is expected today with the start of major pretrial hearings for two of the accused.

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It's a case that will be covered by national media and watched with interest by some local war veterans who said they wonder how it will affect the image of the Marine Corps.

Seven Marines and one Navy corpsman all face charges that they snatched 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad from his home in the Iraqi village of Hamdania on April 26, took him to a roadside hole, tied him up and shot him. Prosecutors allege the men then planted an assault rifle, spent shells and a shovel at the scene to frame Awad as an insurgent planting a roadside bomb.

The men face the death penalty if convicted.

Today's proceedings are known in military parlance as Article 32 hearings. They are akin to preliminary or grand jury hearings in civilian court, in which the prosecution lays out its case against the accused.

After the cases against the men are laid out, the investigating officer overseeing the hearings will recommend to Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis whether the case should proceed as military trials known as courts-martial.

First in line for the hearings are Pfc. John Jodka III, 20, and Cpl. Marshall Magincalda, 23. The two men will have separate hearings starting at 9 a.m. in separate courtrooms at Camp Pendleton.

Only a small number of reporters will be in the courtrooms because of space limitations. The rest will watch from the media center, where a closed-circuit video and audio broadcast of the proceedings will be aired. That footage will not be provided for public airing because the military justice system, like the federal court system on which it is based, does not allow it.

Besides Jodka and Magincalda, the other accused troops are Sgt. Lawrence G. Hutchins III, Hospitalman 3rd Class Melson J. Bacos, Cpl. Trent Thomas, and Lance Cpls. Tyler A. Jackson, Jerry E. Shumate Jr. and Robert B. Pennington.

Their Article 32 hearings are scheduled for September and October.

The men's attorneys and families say they are innocent.

Accusations about Awad's April 26 death first reached military leaders May 1. Within three days, an investigation was under way.

The men, all members of Kilo Company of the 3rd Regiment, 5th Marine battalion at Camp Pendleton, were put on house arrest in Iraq on May 12, then jailed in the Camp Pendleton brig on May 24.

Charges were not brought until June 21.

Veterans guard feelings on accused

In the heavily military town of Oceanside on Tuesday, emotions ranged from outrage to empathy among some local veterans who have followed the case.

"These guys are not getting a fair shake at all," said retired World War II Marine Sgt. Maj. "Iron" Mike Mervosh of Oceanside. "I'm for them. All we're getting is one side of it."

Mervosh, who retired in 1977 as the most-senior enlisted man in all the armed forces after 35 years in the Corps, said he is inclined to believe his fellow Marines rather than Iraqi witnesses.

"We trust those people, but not our Marines," he said.

Mervosh minced no words in his support for the accused Marines and his anger at "our glorious left-wingers" who assume they are guilty, but also acknowledged that he does not know all the details about the case.

If a group of Marines did kidnap and kill a civilian, not in the heat of combat but in cold blood, Mervosh said they should face the consequences.

"If the Marines did wrong, then take appropriate action," he said. "Then they'll get what they deserve. And of course, I'll feel bad about it, as far as our Marine Corps is concerned. I enjoy all the successes of the Marine Corps, and I'm disappointed in the failures."

He said it is disgraceful if even one Marine does something wrong.

"It hurts me when you have a failure in our Corps," said Mervosh, who fought in the Pacific on Roi-Namur, the Marshall Islands, Saipan, Tinian and Iwo Jima during World War II before serving during the Korea and Vietnam wars.

Oceanside resident Joe Kratcoski, a Marine veteran who fought on Saipan in World War II, said he and his buddies also have been following the case.

"Some people really think it's a rotten deal and others say, 'Well, you don't know what happened,' " he said.

Kratcoski said the alleged crimes are disgraceful if true, and the Marines should be justly punished if guilty.

"If they're found guilty of what they're being accused of, it'd be really shocking to me," he said. "I just don't think Marines would do that. We're not trained to do that."

Morgan Jones, a World War II Army veteran who survived the Bataan Death March, was cautious about either condemning or condoning the accused Marines.

"I know that in the heat of the battle, things happen that would not ordinarily happen," he said.

'Hell if you do, hell if you don't'

Jones said he has discussed the case with other veterans, and many of them believe it is unfair to accuse the Marines of murder after sending them into battle.

"All they can say is it's a hell of a note to go to battle and then be charged with something," he said. "It's hell if you do, hell if you don't."

In Fallbrook, which borders eastern Camp Pendleton, Dorothy Tanner said the accusations against the Marines would be shocking to her late husband, Marine Capt. Jack Tanner, who served on Iwo Jima and died two years ago.

"He'd be upset," she said. "I think he'd find it hard to believe it's true. There were so many fine men in the outfit. I cannot even conceive of them doing the things I've read about."

Over at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post in San Marcos, the accusations have made their way into the conversation.

"These kids are being railroaded," member Jerry Hinsch said Tuesday afternoon, calling the accused men "promotion fodder" for officers. "It's a setup. Those people (the Iraqis) don't want us there."

Hinsch said officials from the San Marcos VFW post sent each of the eight jailed men a letter of support and an invitation to fill out an application to join the post. Three of the men did so, and San Marcos VFW members will pick up the membership fee, said Hinsch.

"We told them we aren't standing behind you, we are standing with you,' " said Hinsch, a Vietnam veteran.

Victor Kelley, the civilian attorney for one of the accused, Cpl. Thomas, said his client is among those who took the local post up on the offer.

Sitting next to Hinsch at the bar Tuesday afternoon, World War II veteran Al Catalina, 78, pointed to the stress that the Marines are under, with repeated trips to Iraq.

"They go for six months, they come back for six months," Catalina said. "They are under so much pressure, you can only blame them for half the stuff. There is such a state of confusion over there, nobody knows, what is going on."

- Contact staff writer Gary Warth at (760) 740-5410 or gwarth@nctimes.com. Contact staff writer Teri Figueroa at (760) 631-6624 or tfigueroa@nctimes.com.