Marine recruit needed skin grafts to treat chemical burns suffered at boot camp, documents reveal: Dan Lamothe

by Michael F. McNamara | May 5, 2017 | Marine Corps Recruit Depots

Dan Lamothe
Military Reporter
Washington Post

Washington Post military reporter Dan Lamothe joins us to discuss an article he wrote based on a Freedom of Information Act request.  You can find the article here.

“The recruit’s skin was “liquefied” at the service’s storied boot camp at Parris Island, S.C., the documents said. The injuries occurred after he was ordered to perform unauthorized exercises under an upside-down laundry bin on a floor covered in bleach and required to stay in his wet pants for hours. The recruit reluctantly told another drill instructor about his burns that night, but stayed in training for a few more days. His condition deteriorated after he was told that he would not be able to graduate with his peers if he sought medical attention.”

Ultimately, the Drill Instructor was punished by a year in the brig.   Intervention by other Drill Instructors might have spared a fellow Marine and the recruit horrible experiences.

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