Exonerated Marine to tell his story in book

November 10, 2005

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

A Marine officer exonerated after a high-profile, year-long investigation into an accusation he murdered two suspected Iraqi insurgents is publishing a memoir.

As WorldNetDaily reported, 2nd Lt. Ilario Pantano, a platoon leader in the volatile Sunni Triangle, insisted he acted in self-defense against suspected insurgents during a weapons-cache raid in the spring of 2004. But Marine Corps prosecutors contended Pantano broke the 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 a possible court-martial and death sentence.

The tile of Pantano’s upcoming book, “WARLORD: No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy,” alludes to a sign he placed on the insurgents’ vehicle with the words of revered 1st Marine Division commander Lt. Gen. James N. Mattis. The slogan meant Iraqis who sought justice, freedom and peace would find no better friend than the United States, while those who engaged in terrorism would meet no worse enemy.

Simon & Schuster’s new imprint Threshold Editions expects to release the book in June 2006.

Mary Matalin

Threshold’s editor-in-chief is leading Republican political strategist Mary Matalin.

“Lieutenant Ilario Pantano represents the best of America,” Matalin said in a statement. “His extraordinary Marine’s story is a resounding semper fi to courage, conviction, valor and American values.”

Pantano says his story is about “the love of being a father and a son, both to my own flesh and to America’s sons that were entrusted to me.”

“It’s a story about a love so strong that you would give your own life or use whatever brutality is required to protect it,” he said.

Pantano announced his resignation from his Marine Corp commission in June.

The veteran grew up in a tough neighborhood in New York City but enrolled in the elite Horace Mann High School even though his parents could barely makes ends meet. Upon graduation, he shocked classmates by enlisting in the Marines.

After fighting in the Persian Gulf War, Pantano returned to New York and became a successful Wall Street trader and, later, a TV producer.

After witnessing the 9-11 terrorist attack on New York City, he raced to a barbershop and traded his shoulder-length hair for a Marine buzz cut, re-enlisting at age 31. By then he had a wife, a son and another child on the way.

The events of April 15, 2004, changed his life, when he shot and killed two insurgents in Al Anbar province. Months later — after engaging in successful missions, including battles for Fallujah — a sergeant under his command disputed his self-defense claim in the Al Anbar shootings.

After a widely publicized military hearing and a grass-roots campaign led by his mother, called Defend the Defenders, Pantano was cleared of all charges.

The case drew outrage from many supporters of U.S. troops, including a congressman, who argued it could cause other Marines to question their own actions, possibly endangering both their own life and the continued success of the war on terror.

In February, the FBI investigated threats against Pantano on a website that posted photographs depicting him beheaded by a hooded jihadist. Retired Marines provided a security watch at his family’s home.

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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