Son of Pinoy migrants to testify vs US Marines who killed Iraqi

LOS ANGELES - During two tours of duty in Iraq, Navy corpsman Melson J. Bacos experienced fire fights with insurgents, soldiers dying in his arms, thoughts of whether he'd live another day, he said. Now he has another unnerving assignment. On Friday, the 21-year-old is scheduled to give testimony that military prosecutors hope will help them convict seven Marines accused of kidnapping and murdering an Iraqi man in the town of Hamdania. Bacos, a medic who patrolled with the Marines, will have similar charges dropped in exchange for testimony during his court-martial, his attorney, Jeremiah Sullivan III, told The Associated Press. The military has said Bacos was with the Marines in April when 52-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad was kidnapped and murdered. Some of the troops are accused of stealing an AK-47 assault rifle and a shovel and placing them in a hole with Awad's body, apparently to make it appear he was an insurgent planting a bomb. Bacos is son of Pinoy migrants A check with various web sites - both news and personal sites - showed that Melson Bacos, a corpsman 3rd class assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines Regiment, has been charged along with seven Marines with kidnapping, conspiracy, larceny and providing false official statements in connection with the April 26 death of Iraqi Hashim Ibrahim Awad. The service members are accused of pulling Awad from his home in Hamandiya, west of Baghdad, and shooting him while US troops hunted for insurgents. Melson Bacos, a Franklin High School alumnus, joined the Navy to earn money for medical school. Bacos was born in Chicago after his parents immigrated to the United States from the Philippines. The family moved to Franklin, Massachusetts in 1991. Wrestler Melson Bacos was a varsity wrestler all four years he attended Franklin High School and immediately enlisted in the Navy when he graduated in 2003, his father said. Franklin wrestling coach Louis Brown said Bacos stopped by the school this year to reminisce and thank him for his coaching before returning to Iraq. Bacos, who wrestled at 112 and 125 pounds at Franklin and once qualified for the state tournament, talked little about the war, bringing it up only to tell Brown that his wrestling background had come in handy on several occasions when bigger soldiers had challenged him. On a personal Web site on Myspace.com listed under Bacos' name, he writes: "I've seen it all in combat and now i'm (sic) at it again. I live for my family and their future." On another Web site set up by his family, Bacos' wife, Heather also a Navy corpsman 3rd class said her husband began his first combat deployment to Iraq in July 2004. During that deployment, 19 Marines from his battalion and nine from his company were killed five of them in one firefight, she said. "Two Marines died in my husband's arms," she said. He returned home in April 2005, in time for the birth of the couple's daughter, Alyssa, and left for his second tour in Iraq in January, she said. "I have had the opportunity to visit my husband at the brig in Camp Pendleton," she said on the Web site. "During the visits, my husband's arms and legs remained shackled at all times. I can only speak to my husband through the glass with a guard posted in the room. When I told my husband about the support he has received from across the country, it immediately lifted his spirits. Words cannot express my husband's gratitude for the many kind words and support."- AP, GMANews.TV