Haze Troopsthe De Warby Mark Thompson | @markthompson_dc | September 12, 2011 | + TweetRep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., speaks at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Photo: Harry Hamburg / AP) At the tail end of last Friday's hearing on military suicides before the House Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee, Rep. Judy Chu finally got her chance to speak. Although not a member of the committee – she serves on the Education and Labor, Judiciary, and Small Business Committees – Chairman Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., declared that the California Democrat would be allowed to have her say "after all subcommittee members have had the opportunity to ask questions." Non-committee members often seek the chance to question policymakers about something affecting their districts. But Rep. Chu had something different on her mind. It began like an improvised explosive device amid top Pentagon health and personnel officials: Rep. Judy Chu: I want to tell you something that happened in April this year. Corporal Harry Lew was transferred to a unit on his first tour of Afghanistan and sent to Helmand Province. Eleven days after the transfer, he was found asleep on guard duty. It had happened before those 11 days, and his colleagues judged that the Marines, he let them down and they made sure he knew it. At 11:30 p.m., the sergeant called peers to gather peers. At 12:01 a.m., Corporal Lew was beaten, reprimanded, and forced to perform rigorous exercise. He was forced to do push-ups and leg lifts while wearing full body armor and sand was poured into his mouth. He was forced to dig a hole for hours. He was kicked, punched, and spat upon, and it did not stop until 3:20 a.m. At 3:43 a.m., Corporal Lew climbed into the hole he had just dug and shot himself, committing suicide.Lance Corporal Lew was my nephew. He was 21 years old and couldn’t wait to come home after three months. He was a very popular and outgoing young man, known for joking, smiling, and dancing. But pause, he wasn't the only soldier that this happened to, and in fact, in June, Stars and Stripes shared the story of Army Specialist Brushaun Anderson, who was severely hazed and mistreated by his superior officers at a remote base in Iraq. They told him he was dirty, that he performed poorly, and made him wear a plastic garbage bag and forced him to perform physical exercises in his bulletproof vest over and over again, and made him build a sandbag wall that served no military purpose.In 2009, Army Soldier Keiffer Wilhelm shot himself in a portable toilet after being accused of being overweight and forced to undergo excessive physical exercise while his superiors verbally abused him.Your data shows that 40 percent of those who committed suicide last year were involved in some sort of legal or disciplinary issue in the year preceding their death. I would like to know if each service explicitly prohibits hazing under your regulations? How are you actually preventing hazing-related suicides? And in each of these cases, superiors were involved, so what are you really doing to enforce anti-hazing regulations with superior officers? Lieutenant General Robert Milstead Jr., Marine Corps Deputy Commandant for Manpower and Reserve Affairs: Yes, ma'am. The - this is very unfortunate. Hazing, as you use the term that you've used, is incompatible with the core values of the Marine Corps. It is explicitly prohibited by regulation and, and once found, it is investigated, and if they are justified, it will be dealt with appropriately. We do not condone hazing in the Corps.Rep. Chu United States Marine: Dr. Woodson, what has been done - and well, first I would like to know for each service if you know hazing is explicitly prohibited and what is really being done about it?Dr. Jonathan Woodson, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs: I can say, for the Army, hazing is explicitly prohibited. It is clearly written in our regulations that it is forbidden, and if it occurs, then we take the appropriate measures based on the investigations we conduct, holding commanders responsible for enforcement. But we expect soldiers to treat each other with respect and dignity and to uphold the values of the Army, and that’s the bottom line. And if they don't, then we will investigate and take actions.Rear Admiral Anthony Kurta, Director of Navy Military Personnel: And Congresswoman, for the Navy, as with the other services, hazing is not compatible with our core values and is explicitly prohibited, and again, as with the other services, when hazing actions come to light, we take very strong and proactive measures so that all those involved face justice.Lieutenant General Darrell Jones, Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Manpower and Personnel: Member of Congress, first, we are deeply sorry for your loss. And I promise you that from the Air Force's perspective, we do not tolerate hazing. We have regulations against it. Being a commander five times different, including commanding Lackland Air Force Base, 37th Training Wing, where we do all basic training for the Air Force, we look for things like this. Every time we have someone in a subordinate position and, obviously, superiors such as drill instructors, technical training instructors, we watch for this very closely. And when someone steps out of line, we take quick action. It’s incompatible with our core values, and we will not tolerate it.Dr. Woodson: I also wish to express great sorrow for your loss and to affirm that hazing is incompatible with Department of Defense policy. It is also clear that the uniformed services – each of the services have UCMJ responsibilities. And for us to ensure that we enforce policies through conducting proper investigations, but it’s each service's responsibility to lead these investigations and enforce the UCMJ echoing marines.We study three of theirs within the context of Lew's death. This case might be the most studied military suicide ever, due to interested family. 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