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Corpsman gets 2 years over unearned medals

NORFOLK, Va. — A hospital corpsman accused of wearing unearned combat awards was sentenced to two years’ confinement, reduction to E-3 and a bad-conduct discharge Thursday.

Prosecutors had asked that Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class (FMF) Dontae Lee Tazewell be sentenced to 18 months’ confinement and a bad-conduct discharge.

Within minutes of the sentencing, an ambulance and two fire trucks raced to the courthouse, in response to an emergency somehow involving Tazewell. More information was not immediately available.

Before military judge Capt. Patricia Battin announced the sentence, Tazewell took the stand, saying news coverage of the event had caused his children and wife embarrassment.

“Because of the guilty verdict, I personally feel ashamed,” he said. “I feel like I brought shame to the hospital corps, to the Navy, to myself and my family.”

“This is about an accused who had a plan to con the United States Navy,” said prosecutor Lt. Matthew Wooten.

Tazewell, 28, was found guilty of 10 specifications of wearing unauthorized ribbons and medals on Wednesday. He was accused of using false paperwork to give himself a Bronze Star with “V,” Purple Heart, Combat Action Ribbon, Navy Unit Commendation Medal and various other medals, according to the charging documents. Tazewell allegedly told people he risked his life to save Marines in combat in Iraq five years ago. He was not convicted of the specification involving the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal with “V.”

According to his official Navy biography, Tazewell, who joined the Navy in June 1998, rates only a Good Conduct Medal. But in a 2006 article appearing in the base newspaper Soundings, which covered Tazewell’s awards ceremony that was prompted by the alleged forgeries, the corpsman was said to have been ambushed on patrol in Iraq and repeatedly ran into the line of fire to rescue six wounded Marines.

The defense had put the burden on the Navy for awarding Tazewell the medals, claiming that the corpsman merely alerted his command to awards, with Lt. Matthew Cutchen saying, “He did what junior personnel are told to do.” Wooten refuted that point. “He could have corrected it; he could have stood up and said this wasn’t true,” the prosecutor said.

Wooten said that Tazewell not only awarded himself a Bronze Star, but “the accused decided to give himself the distinction of valor.”

Present at sentencing were several of Tazewell’s former chiefs and shipmates from his deployment to Kuwait, who testified during the proceedings.

At the conclusion of sentencing, a master at arms was prepared to lead Tazewell away in handcuffs.

On Tuesday, several of Tazewell’s direct superiors and fellow sailors testified.

Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman (FMF/SW) Michael Dean Smith supervised Tazewell during the deployment of Marine Wing Support Squadron 272 to Kuwait in early 2003. Corpsmen from the unit manned flightline aid stations at three airfields in Kuwait and sometimes rolled with supply convoys. But Smith said none of his sailors, including Tazewell, rated any of the decorations Tazewell allegedly gave himself.

“I can say 100 percent that nobody in my unit, MWSS-272, had any combat-related injuries whatsoever,” Smith told the court. “All of our convoys were uneventful. We never encountered any enemy action or any enemy fire or had to return fire.”

Chief Hospital Corpsman (FMF) Santiago Chavez worked closely with Tazewell at an expeditionary airfield in Kuwait. He said corpsmen went on supply convoys as a rule, but often headed south, away from Iraq, to other airfields in Kuwait. As for Tazewell’s performance at the airfield, Chavez said, “He did what everybody else was doing.”

In comments to reporters after the first day of the court-martial, Cutchen could not say if his client ever stepped foot in Iraq. “He adamantly denies the charges against him,” Cutchen said.

During the court proceeding, witnesses were asked to review the citations and certificates that Tazewell allegedly fabricated while working in the administrative office at a branch medical clinic at Naval Weapons Station Yorktown, Va.

Marine Capt. Adele Burks, former adjutant for MWSS 272, said the paperwork allegedly submitted by Tazewell on behalf of himself was almost wholly inconsistent with recognized standards.

“The overall format is incorrect with regard to fonts and the like,” she said, adding that the paperwork was endorsed by a fictitious three-star general. Reading one document allegedly crafted by Tazewell, Burks said, “Lt. Gen. Haviland does not exist,” who is most likely a concoction based on MWSS 272’s commanding officer until 2004, then-Lt. Col. Joseph K. Haviland.

Wooten said Tazewell failed his March 2006 advancement exam and was facing separation because he hadn’t made E-5 in the required eight years. In response, Wooten said Tazewell “conned the Navy” with “phony” citations that somehow passed through the chain of command.

The citations were so successful that Tazewell was treated to an award ceremony attended by more than 100 people in which a Navy captain lauded Tazewell by telling the audience “This is what a hero looks like.” Several military publications also wrote articles about Tazewell. Based on the awards, the Navy reviewed Tazewell’s record and advanced him to E-5.

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