Marine Hazing Coming to the Silver Screen

| February 9, 2021

A New York Times tragic story of the hazing and death of Marine Recruit Raheel Siddiqui is being considered for a mini-series. LA based 101 Studio will use the incident as a vehicle to expose “…the brutal hazing and torture that has riddled Parris Island for decades…”

If produced I’m sure a fair and honest depiction of Marine Boot life will be presented, and the reasons for the harsh training regimen will be explored.

Or not. David sends.

Marine Recruit’s Boot Camp Death Could Become a TV Series on Hazing

By Gina Harkins

An entertainment studio has reportedly acquired the rights of a 2017 story from The New York Times Magazine that details the life and hazing death of a 20-year-old Marine recruit.

The Los Angeles-based 101 Studios acquired the article about Marine Corps Recruit Raheel Siddiqui, entertainment news site Deadline reported last week. The article will be used “as source material for a scripted limited series produced by 101 Studios,” according to the outlet.

“We feel privileged to have the opportunity to tell this story,” David Glasser, 101 Studios’ CEO, told Deadline. “Raheel’s death was tragic and his family’s loss is immeasurable, but his death has revealed he is not the only victim. We intend to further explore the brutal hazing and torture that has riddled Parris Island for decades and tell the stories of the other victims who have silently suffered.”

*sigh* Read the entire article here: Military.com
Thanks, David.

Category: "The Floggings Will Continue Until Morale Improves", Guest Link, Media

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Sapper3307

Perhaps narrated by aOc in the first person?

ninja

Some background information on the article. David and Ed: Thank You for sharing the story. IMHO, this is so sad that a few are trying to take advantage of the tragedy. For what purpose? What is the motive for “telling the story” ? Money? Fame for 101 Studios? For the Recruit’s family? The 2020 article: “Supreme Court Won’t Hear Wrongful Death Claim In Case of Michigan Marine Recruit” https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/03/24/supreme-court-wont-hear-raheel-siddiqui-wrongful-death-claim/2911248001/ “The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a wrongful death claim against the U.S. Marine Corps brought by the family of a 20-year-old Taylor recruit who died at boot camp four years ago.” “The court entered an order in federal court in Detroit on Tuesday acknowledging that the justices had decided not to hear the appeal brought by the family of Raheel Siddiqui, who died after a fall from a third-floor walkway balcony at Parris Island, S.C., in 2016.” “The denial, which came without explanation, effectively brings the $100-million wrongful death claim to an end, unless some new ground for appeal is found.” “Siddiqui’s death came after he had been hit and verbally abused by his drill instructor, Gunnery Sgt. Joseph Felix, who was later convicted by a military court and sentenced to 10 years’ confinement for mistreating recruits, including Siddiqui. Felix was accused of referring to Siddiqui, a Muslim, as a “terrorist” and, the previous year, of having ordered another Muslim recruit into an industrial-sized dryer at the camp and turning it on.” “Prosecutors said Siddiqui had complained of a sore, bleeding throat and asked to seek medical attention on the morning he died but was instead ordered to run laps inside the barracks. When he collapsed, Felix struck him at least once, and Siddiqui ran out a third-story door, jumping over an exterior railing.” “The death was ruled a suicide though the family has refused to accept that he would kill himself. The incident led to investigations of abuse across the boot camp.” “Through their lawyer, the Siddiqui family had argued that they and Raheel should have been warned beforehand about the investigation into Felix’s prior behavior and… Read more »

USMC Steve

No, the family will continue to find ways to line their pockets and benefit from it. The DI is already a convicted felon.

Mike Gunns

Just have a rerun of Tribes from 1970 starring Darren McGavin and Jan Michael Vincent. I’m not a Marine, but I did visit MCRD in San Diego quite often over a 16 year period until, we moved out of state in the summer of ’75, as my father was a civilian working there after mustering out of the Navy.

I believe that film gave an accurate depiction of Marine basic training.

Nunu

As someone who was once in California I also feel you are uniquely qualified to determine how realistic it was.

Mike Gunns

I’m sure you were funnin’ me.

Tribes was a little more realistic than Gomer Pyle, USMC just so you know.

Fun fact, the same Marine barber who cut Jim Nabors hair for the TV show, used to cut my hair when I was a kid.

Jeff LPH 3, 63-66

One of the workers where I worked was in Parris Island when the Ribbon Creek incident occured on April 8th 1956 where the Corps lost 6 recruits whom drowned while on a disciplinary march during the night.

Atlanticcoast63

…My dad was, for a couple of days, one of the Marine MPs who guarded SSgt McKeon at his courts-martial. And as far as movies are concerned, Jack Webb’s ‘The DI’ is still the gold standard – I first saw that one when I was four, and can still recite most of it to this day.

/don’t EVER kill a sand flea

Skivvy Stacker

Something that never seems to get mentioned about SSGT McKeon, is that in later years he gave an interview in which he stated that he lived with an overwhelming sense of guilt and remorse over the Ribbon Creek incident, and that he was heart broken over the recruits who died that night. So much for “brutality”.

timactual

“he lived with an overwhelming sense of guilt and remorse over the Ribbon Creek incident, and that he was heart broken over the recruits who died t”

Good.
And I am sure the next of kin are just as heart broken.

FuzeVT

It is my considered opinion that Siddiqui was just a suicide bomber. His method of eliminating Marines from the USMC was to kill himself. If that wasn’t his goal, it certainly was the predictable result. The result of his jump ended many Marines’ careers and one has been sentenced to 10 years in prison. He had been at boot camp for 11 days. If they are still doing a week of receiving, that means his drill instructors he would have for the majority of boot only had him for about 3 days. Was he so fragile that he was ready to kill himself after 3 days with his drill instructor team? 3 days with the drill instructor that just got sentenced drove him to suicide?
I can’t get inside this kid’s head, but you have to see that things just don’t add up.
I served with the colonel who commanded the recruit training regiment. You couldn’t wish for a finer Marine leader (you don’t get those positions without being top-notch). He was yet another casualty of the fallout.
Complete and utter horse-hockey.
One last word, I don’t know about the DI who just got a decade in the brig for this and other abuses. He may have been an abusive dirt bag – I don’t know. I just don’t think that what ever he could have done in 3 days (+/-) could have influenced this kid into killing himself. It just doesn’t pass the smell test.

JTB

A Few Good Men….

Anonymous

“Did you order the Code Red?!”… that wasn’t enough for ’em?

KoB

All about the money! Couldn’t scam Uncle Sam out of 100 mil, so decided they would settle for what they could get from true believer snowflakes.

No telling how many Blue on Blue friendlies this peckerhead would’ve taken out…at some point in time.

Martinjmpr

I liked this movie better the first time I saw it.

When it was called “Full Metal Jacket.”

Anonymous

Exactly…

timactual

I have seen obstacle courses in movies since I was a kid. One place I never saw an obstacle course was in the Army. I still feel short-changed.

QMC

Next war that kicks off, just send in LA based 101 Studio to the front lines instead of the Marines.

Maybe give the one or two that survive and live to tell the tale a new perspective on life.

Only Army Mom

I get the family is devastated and looking for answers. I get the family needs to believe someone else is responsible. In this case, because the DI got 10 years for abuse, it is probable this DI was a sadistic dirt bag. But, and I mean this gently and with empathy, the family does not understand what Marine Corps basic training is about. Where they live, the America they experience is one in which if equality of perception, outcome and opportunity are not one and the same, discrimination and injustice are to blame…and someone else is to be held responsible.

Unfortunately, I believe there are too many recruits and families in this day and age, from many communities, that feel this way.

I will not criticize or blame, but I will acknowledge the valid questions raised by all sides. As Fuze says, +/- 3 days as a recruit? That does raise the specter of questions about fitness to be a Marine, as does the DI getting sentenced.

A sad situation all around that will only be made worse by Hollyweird sensationalizing the story. On the bright side, we’ll probably have a new byword-the name of the upcoming flick-as an example of lib-elitist disconnect from the concept of military service.

FuzeVT

What I meant earlier, is that he had been at basic for 11 days. Assuming there was 7 days in a receiving platoon (with temporary instructors) as there was when I went through, that means 3 days with his permanent instructors. Thus, he was with his main DIs for only a few days (3+/- is my guess based on what it was the last time I heard anything about boot camp).

In any case, seemingly too short of a time for someone who has gone through the recruiting process to become suicidal. One would hope someone so fragile would have been noticed by the recruiter. (Not saying that is 100%, of course.)

USMC Steve

It depends. Our group got there towards the end of the platoon forming, and we only had three days of Receiving Barracks before we were handed off to the DI’s.

FuzeVT

“A sad situation all around that will only be made worse by Hollyweird sensationalizing the story.”

So very true.

David

You coulda left out ‘recruits and families’.

One of the worst problems we as a society have: when seeking to blame someone for what is wrong we fail to use a mirror. The vast majority of the time, people’s problems are of their own making.

SteeleyI

Ok. Prisoner Felix (I won’t refer to him as a Marine, an NCO, and definitely not a Drill Instructor) was convicted by a military jury in a court-martial of maltreatment, violation of a lawful general order and dereliction of duty, making a false official statement, and drunk and disorderly conduct. The prosecution wanted seven years in prison, the court gave him 10. His conviction and sentence were upheld on appeal.

He forced recruits to choke each other, slapped them, conducted mock beheadings, and forced them into an industrial clothes dryer.

I got it, the kid was only three days, so he probably wasn’t cut out to be a Marine. You know what a Drill Instructor/Sergeant is supposed to do? Either train the kid, or, if they can’t hack it, let them quit. Don’t haze them until they would rather die than continue to train.

Tough, realistic training is the best way to create combat ready troops. They could have created the same stress levels with road marches, combatives, IMT drills, and a million different ways. The fact they had time for ridiculous reindeer games like this tells me there is a lot of slack time in the Recruit Training Schedule.

How is this making them Marines? Looking at a picture of him, he was clearly too fat and out of shape to actually lead them in PT or actual combat related training, so he had to resort to hazing. By the way, he was an air traffic controller, so we aren’t talking about Gunny Hartman showing a bunch of boots what it’s like being in The Shit.

The worst part is that he was responsible for a crew of at least five other bullies who all followed his lead. That is why they and their battalion commander were all relieved, and deservedly so. The fact that this was happening, sanctioned by a Gunnery Sergeant, tells me that the company commander and battalion commander were derelict.

Hack Stone

You do know that R. Lee Ermey, who portrayed GySgt Hartman, was an Air Traffic Controller when he served in Vietnam, don’t you? The Marine Corps casts the net far and wide to select those to be Drill Instructors. Hack’s Senior Drill Instructor was a helicopter mechanic. Plenty of Comm guys, both operators and maintenance, as well as MP’s, cooks, motor transport and combat engineers who successfully toured the Drill Field.

SteeleyI

And?

I am talking about the fictional character, not the actor that played him. I am also well aware of the wide range of specialties that are selected for DS/DI duty.

That said, this embarrassment to the uniform did not serve successfully in the drill field. Rather, he failed spectacularly and brought great discredit upon the service.

What he did and led or at the very least allowed was clearly criminal, but also expressly against regulation. There is absolutely no doubt about it. Because of the strict selection and training process, there is also no doubt that He knew what he was doing was wrong at the time.

In this case, the Marines screwed the pooch in their search, didn’t they?

USMC Steve

Thank you for your utterly uninformed opinion. Always glad to hear from someone who was never a Marine, thus knows shit all about what we do and are about.

Boot camp is not in any way about training combat ready troops. It is about creating a basically trained Marine, ready to be further trained in other skills. It is about culling the dross and the whining non hackers. First phase training is designed and intended specifically to massively fuck with the recruits, to separate them from their slimy civilian shit, and reform them into something actually useful, to see who can hack it and who cannot. To get rid of the nonperformers early on in the game. DI’s are not allowed to physically assault the boots, but none of the ones I ever saw even had to. They had tons more stuff to do to us. And it ain’t the DI’s job to “let them quit”. There is a specific process to that, and you don’t have the option in the first phase. Recruits are being evaluated throughout first phase to see if they have what it takes to be kept in the Corps. The training cycle, which is something you also don’t know shit about, is very intensive, with very little slack time, which the DI’s use to work with the recruits further. You don’t just take them on a quick 10 mile hike on your own in the time allowed.

And the typical DI complement is three at best to a platoon, not five. Where did he get five other JDI’s?

You need to restrict yourself to running your mouth about something you actually have knowledge of.

TopGoz

Yup.

Parris Island, 2nd BN, F Co., Plt 2042 1979

SteeleyI

‘To get rid of non performers early in the game”

By driving them to commit suicide?

Recruits who refuse to train can be removed from training and separated at the convenience of the service.

“with very little slack time, which the DI’s use to work with the recruits further”. Gotcha. How much time does the ‘specific process’ allow for putting recruits in an industrial dryer?

“DIs are not allowed to physically assault the boots”. This one did.

“Boot camp is not in any way about training combat ready troops”. This shows how little you understand about training combat ready troops. Boot camp may be about prepping the recruit for SOI and follow on training, but all of it is part of the process of preparing for combat.

If there

USMC Steve

Stop, just stop. Your non-response bores me. You must be a liberal.

Never said the dude didn’t do stuff he was not allowed to do.

When a recruit refuses to train any further, the MP’s come and take them away. They are held somewhere until they can be interviewed, have the situation explained very explicitly to them, and offered a chance to unfuck themselves. If they still don’t want to play, they are admin separated with an undesirable general discharge as unfit for military service. Or were. That may have changed now.

And don’t even try to tell me how little I understand about training troops, motherfucker. I forgot more than you will ever grasp about it. Recruit training in the Marines is exactly what I said it was, and that is also the mission statement of the recruit training command. Ask any of the Marines here, but of course you won’t. I have noticed you and Lars are pretty much in lock step in thinking they know everything about nothing.

And your smartass non replies don’t demonstrate anything more than the fact that you are a smarmy dick, not that you are in any intellectually superior to anyone else here. You must be a fucking officer, aren’t you?

Green Thumb

I endured a lot of hazing in the unit as well. Not just OSUT.

Bim

My son got leave to come up and see us before being deployed overseas. He joined up about 1 year ago and he and his new wife (don’t ask) are driving back to base in a few days to get back to his FAST team.

I showed him this article, and his only comment was “Rah?” with his head tilted to the side like a dog.

Apparently, he heard of the incident, but never experienced or heard anything as ‘brutal’ as this portrayal. He doe not plan on seeing this but does hope that the movie is going to include lots of sand fleas to help get the actors invested in their roles.

ChipNASA

FAST teams are a pretty cool gig. I just heard about them and I may be ignorant and yes, 2007, my retirement year was quite a but ago, but I’d not heard of them. I’m also assuming that the Jarhead types are doing the same thing as the Chairforce guys or vice versa.
Apparently some specific FAST teams are tied to the C-130 aircraft only while the RAVEN teams are airfield/aircraft security teams.

https://www.acc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2226043/a-birds-eye-view-of-auab-ravens-fast-teams/

Steeleyi

AF and USMC FAST teams have slightly different missions. The AF Fly Away Security Teams provide temporary security for aircraft at austere forward bases. They are Security Forces Airmen.

USMC Fleet Anti-Terrorism Security Teams provide quick reaction to augment security at US Government facilities overseas; and IE hostage rescue. They are part of the Marine Security Forces Regiment, the same organization that provides embassy guards.

Slow Joe

Did he marry a dependappopotamus?

Bim

If you mean Dependa as in “We met a few months ago in Norfolk NEAR a strip club (but not in one)”, then yeah. She apparently was engaged to a sailor, but that didn’t work out.

We. Are. So. Overjoyed…

USMC Steve

The free housing and PX card are still powerful incentives for the gals. In some cases the guys too.

Anonymous

Love you no shit G.I. you buy me Honda! (Same stuff, different place.)