Pantano quits
Marine Corps

June 3, 2005

2nd Lt. Ilario Pantano in Fallujah last year. (Photo courtesy Ilario Pantano via New York magazine).

One week after the Marine Corps cleared him of pre-meditated-murder charges, 2nd Lt. Ilario Pantano has decided to resign his commission.

“It was a tough year on him and his family, and there are also some professional considerations he is making,” his military lawyer, Maj. Phillip Stackhouse, told WorldNetDaily.

Pantano – who endured a year-long investigation and a hearing after a sergeant accused him of murdering two suspected Iraqi insurgents – made the announcement today at a gathering in Wilmington, N.C., to honor volunteers who supported him during the ordeal, according to Kit Jarrell, who has followed the case in a weblog called Euphoric Reality.

Pantano, who submitted a letter of resignation Wednesday, is a regular officer and, therefore, serves under an undefined term of contract that can be ended by request.

Stackhouse told WND the normal procedure is for his request to move up the chain of command, eventually to Marine Corps headquarters, where the final approval must be given.

The process could take a number of weeks Stackhouse said, and in the meantime, Pantano will continue to train officers at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Stackhouse confirmed that Pantano initially had indicated a desire to return to Iraq with his batallion, but has had a “change of heart.”

“In the last several months, he had expressed the intent to continue to want to serve,” Stackhouse explained. “But the fact that his old batallion is deploying imminently kind of quashed that plan … and also just because of the way everything happened during the Article 32 hearing – and for personal reasons.”

Pantano e-mailed a statement to Jarrell saying, “Leading Marines in battle has been the pinnacle of my professional life. There are so many things about being a Marine that I will miss now that I have submitted my resignation, but my priority must be taking care of my family after what can only be described as ‘one hell of a year.'”

At the gathering today in Wilmingon, Pantano expressed thanks to Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., for his backing, which included speeches on the House floor.

Pantano said:

Congressman Jones, you once shared a verse with me: “Greater love hath no man than to lay down his life for his friends.”

That spirit of sacrifice defines the soldier and Marine. And it defines you sir. You know in your heart and your soul what is right and you are willing to fight for it. Even if it is at great risk to you and your career.

As my family and I faced our darkest hours you fought for us, and in doing so you fought for every man and woman in the uniform, past present and future – not because of the opportunity to challenge the military, but for the opportunity to protect it from itself.

Day and night you appealed to any that would listen. You were tireless in your defense of me, and for that I will be eternally grateful.

My family and I want to thank you for your courage and your leadership.

First, I present to you my innocence, known to you and many many others from the outset, but proven finally by our justice system after a yearlong investigation and prosecution.

Congressman Jones, You weren’t just brave to defend me. You were right.

And finally, from one warrior to another, I present to you my most cherished possession: my sword. My love of corps and country will never be broken or diminished, but now it is my love of family that I must honor most with my decision to resign.

I have taken up arms for my country and my corps in two wars and it has been my privilege to serve beside real heroes – some of whom are here today.

Even as I step aside it is my greatest hope that young men and women continue to follow in the footsteps of those who have gone before, to push themselves, to rise to the challenge of becoming Marines. Our country needs you and we will always be grateful to you.

The Marine officer’s sword represents the highest ideals of military excellence and professionally, one of my greatest achievements.

Honor, courage and commitment are principles by which we Marines live and die.

You, Congressman Jones, through your actions, have demonstrated that you live by those principles as well.

And I, for one am grateful that you do.

Thank you sir, may God bless you and your family and may God bless America.

Pantano, a platoon leader in the volatile Sunni Triangle last spring, insisted he acted in self-defense against suspected insurgents after they attempted to drive away from a house where weapons were found. The Marine Corps prosecutors contended Pantano commited numerous violations of the Uniform Military Code and executed the Iraqis to send a message to the enemy.

Before being cleared by his commanding officer, Maj. Gen. Richard Huck, Pantano had faced the possibility of a court-martial and a death sentence.

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Art Moore

Art Moore, co-author of the best-selling book "See Something, Say Nothing," entered the media world as a PR assistant for the Seattle Mariners and a correspondent covering pro and college sports for Associated Press Radio. He reported for a Chicago-area daily newspaper and was senior news writer for Christianity Today magazine and an editor for Worldwide Newsroom before joining WND shortly after 9/11. He earned a master's degree in communications from Wheaton College. Read more of Art Moore's articles here.

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