Friends of Tyler: Imprisoned troops receive support

A group calling itself Friends of Tyler gathered at a modest local home Sunday to rally support for Lance Cpl. Tyler Jackson of Tracy and the other six U.S. Marines and one U.S. Navy corpsman charged with murdering an unarmed Iraqi civilian.

"What we're most upset with is the way the military has handled it," said Darrell Bottoms, whose son, Brian, is serving with the Marines in Iraq. "They're shackled in a maximum-security cell 23 hours a day. That's how we treat our prisoners on death row — after they've had their trial."

Marilyn Chorley, head of Tracy's Military Moms group, invited a few military dads, including Jackson's father, Philip Jackson, who is a Tracy resident. But he was unable to make it.

"We want to make it clear that Military Moms isn't involved with this, (we're) only parents of military who support our boys," Chorley said.

Members said they were concerned that Tyler and the other accused servicemen, including Manteca native Cpl. Marshall Magincalda Jr., were negatively portrayed by media. They want people to know that these men should be considered innocent before being proven guilty, and that they are being mistreated by the military at the brig at Camp Pendleton in San Diego.

Jackson's family has set up a Web site, http://www.fightingfortyler.com, where they are encouraging neighbors, government leaders and even President Bush to fight for the innocence of the Marines. They want to hire a civilian lawyer who will work with an appointed military lawyer to free their son.

"We cannot begin to tell you the agony that our son and we are going through, but the show of support that I have witnessed is quite uplifting," read the first page of the Web site written by the family of Tyler Jackson. "We would like our son to see that, too."

The family has set up a defense fund with Wells Fargo Bank, and donors can find the account and routing numbers to make their donations on the site.

The families of the accused servicemen remain convinced their sons are innocent.

"He is innocent of any wrong doing, yet sits in the brig since May 24 in solitary confinement, handcuffed, chained and shackled," reads the family's Web site. "We just learned on June 15, 2006, that his status has been changed from maximum security to medium security. He now can move out of his cell for an hour a day and for visits on weekends. A step in the right direction, small though it may be, in the whole scheme of things. Not exactly the hero's homecoming that he deserves."

To send these men to war to do a job and then imprison them for doing it is absurd, the site reads. But the family still has as many questions.

"Why were they being held in these conditions when they were neither charged nor convicted of anything? Why did it take so long to appoint military counsel? Why are they being subjected to less rights and freedom of movement than the very terrorists they put their lives on the line to protect the world from?"

As of Sunday afternoon, the site had more than 500 hits.

"We've even had a note from someone in China supporting him," Paulette Bottoms said. Her husband, Darrell, sat nearby. Both were wearing shirts with the American flag. Next to them were Mike and Elaine Pulliam, who have a son in the Marines serving in Iraq.

"He's coming home in August," Mike said with a look of relief on his face.

The group said that the gathering was to show that any parents' child — including their sons and daughters fighting in Iraq — could find themselves in this situation.

"These are tough guys," Pulliam said. "But we sent them out to do the toughest job in the world."

Contact reporter Phil Hayworth at phayworth@tracypress.com.

First published: Tuesday, June 27, 2006