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National

Haditha Casts Pall over a Marine Family's Grief

By John Burnett
Published May 29, 2006 at 12:07 AM PDT
This story was published more than 18 years ago.
George Terrazas, 15, and Andy Terrazas, 14, flank a picture of big brother Miguel (at center of framed photo). Both young men say they plan to enlist in the Marines.
George Terrazas, 15, and Andy Terrazas, 14, flank a picture of big brother Miguel (at center of framed photo). Both young men say they plan to enlist in the Marines.

The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is probing the alleged unprovoked killings of 24 civilians last November by U.S. Marines in the insurgent hotbed of Haditha, Iraq.

The dead include women and children. According to news accounts, the killings were in retaliation for the death of Marine Lance Cpl. Miguel Terrazas, Jr. He was 20 years old.

For more than fifty years, the Terrazas family has run a tiny store called Ben's Tacos, in the Segundo Barrio neighborhood of El Paso, Texas. On this Memorial Day, family members are struggling with the scandal that has overshadowed the death of Lance Cpl. Terrazas.

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National
John Burnett
John Burnett is a national correspondent based in Austin, Texas, who has been assigned a new beat for 2022—Polarized America—to explore all facets of our politically and culturally divided nation. Prior to this assignment, Burnett covered immigration, Southwest border affairs, Texas news and other national assignments. In 2018, 2019 and again in 2020, he won national Edward R. Murrow Awards from the Radio-Television News Directors Association for continuing coverage of the immigration beat. In 2020, Burnett along with other NPR journalists, were finalists for a duPont-Columbia Award for their coverage of the Trump Administration's Remain in Mexico program. In December 2018, Burnett was invited to participate in a workshop on Refugees, Immigration and Border Security in Western Europe, sponsored by the RIAS Berlin Commission.
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