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Navy Department award to Murtha spurs outrage

U.S. Rep. John P. Murtha infuriated Marines across the country in May 2006 when he accused a handful of Marines of deliberately killing nearly 20 civilians in Haditha, Iraq.

“There was no firefight,” the Pennsylvania Democrat said at the time. “There was no [improvised explosive device] that killed those innocent people. Our troops overreacted because of the pressure on them. And they killed innocent civilians in cold blood.”

Those comments sealed Murtha’s place as a pariah with many veterans groups and active-duty troops — especially when all but one of the eight Marines accused later had the charges against them dropped or were found not guilty by the Corps (nine counts of manslaughter against the eighth Marine, Staff. Sgt. Frank Wuterich, are still pending).

Now, many of those same Marines and veterans are angry again — and this time the furor extends to former Navy Secretary Donald Winter.

Murtha, chairman of the House appropriations subcommittee on defense, was awarded the Navy’s Distinguished Public Service Award on March 5 by Winter, who left office March 13. The award is the highest form of public service recognition bestowed by the Navy Department on a non-employee.

In a citation Murtha received with the award, the Navy credited Murtha’s “selfless devotion” with ensuring that Marines and sailors had the resources they need for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“His courageous leadership, vision, and loyalty to the men and women of the Department of the Navy greatly contributed to their quality of life and helped create the most modern and highly trained fighting force in history,” it reads in part.

To those still fuming over Murtha’s comments on Haditha, the decision amounts to a slap in the face. More than 40,000 people have signed a growing online petition blasting Winter’s decision and calling for either Murtha to apologize for his Haditha statements or Winter to rescind the award.

“We the undersigned are appalled that the Secretary of the Navy would bestow the Department’s highest award for a non-employee to John Murtha after his vile and despicable attacks against U.S. servicemen,” the petition states. “This petition is a vehicle to express our bitter disappointment at this betrayal of our combat veterans.”

A Navy spokesman said the service would not comment on Winter’s decision, other than to say that several other senior members of Congress were honored with the same award by Winter.

Murtha could not be reached for comment, but has released a statement saying he is “honored to receive this distinguished award.”

“We have an obligation to ensure that our men and women in uniform have the most modern equipment, effective training, first-class medical care, and family advocacy resources,” Murtha said.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.