The Court Martial is one of the oldest institutions of justice in the world today. We can draw a direct line of descent from the modern military trial all the way back through the British Articles of War, and from there, to the tribunals of the ancient Romans. Granted, the procedures have changed a bit, but at its core, the court martial remains a direct progeny of the Roman Tribunal.
Of course, America's history doesn't span quite that far back. But even in our short 250 years or so, our military has brought charges against over 1.5 million soldiers. The offenses range from the most minor military offenses, to treason, to bloody war crimes so psychotic it's difficult to imagine them. But war is, itself, a psychotic business - and at no point in history will you run out of precedents for that.
The following examples of people who were court martialed includes at least one man whose name is synonymous with "treason," and quite a few more whose names are known little at all. It contains legendary neurosurgeons and pilots, and more than a couple men who straddled the line between hero and villain. Not all of these soldiers were disgraced for their deed - but all were military men who broke the law. Check out this list of the most high profile court martial stories below, and be sure to let us know what you think in the comment section.
18 of the Most High Profile Court Martial Stories,
Benedict Arnold
In America, Benedict Arnold's name ranks right up there with "Judas" as a synonym for "traitor." Arnold was a general who originally fought on America's side during the Revolutionary War, but secretly defected to the Brits, and hatched an unsuccessful plot to surrender the vital West Point fortifications to England. He was unhappy with the fact that Washington had turned down Britain's offer of full colonial self-governance in 1778; but his primary reason for switching sides was the fact that Congress personally billed him for expenses incurred in the defense of Quebec; he'd left his receipts and paperwork behind while retreating from the fort. That bill from Congress came to the modern equivalent of... $2.2 million. Honestly... do you still hate the guy that much?
Billy Mitchell
Mitchell is a legendary figure in military aviation circles. Serving as a General in the first World War, Mitchell is today regarded as the father of the U.S. Air Force. He was a constant champion of airpower during and after the war, and believed the Navy near obsolete apart from its aircraft carriers. He expressed that belief vocally - a little too vocally for some. In 1925, Mitchell was court martialled for accusing the Army and Navy administration of incompetence, and calling the Navy's newest investment in battleships (instead of carriers): "an almost treasonable administration of the national defense."
General Douglas MacArthur sat on the panel of 12 who convicted Mitchell, and drummed him out of the service. You have to wonder how MacArthur felt about that decision 15 years later, launching Corsairs from his carriers to escort B-25 Mitchell bombers over Okinawa.
William Calley
While the My Lai Massacre gets its own separate entry on this list, special mention must be made of one of its most despicable perpetrators. Calley led the battalion on its bloody rampage through South Vietnam, which left over 500 women, children and elderly people mutilated, gang raped, and murdered. Calley himself was responsible for at least 22 of the killings, of which six were said to be fully premeditated. And more so, it was Calley who initiated the entire thing, with his battalion and other companies following suit. Calley claims he was "just following orders" from his supervisor Ernest Medina - a claim which not at all brings to mind certain trials in Nuremberg.
Calley also got his trial, and was found guilty on all counts. He was sentenced to death. Then, he had his sentence reduced - almost a dozen times - until it was whittled down to house arrest. Richard Nixon gave Calley a full pardon - because screw house arrest.
Bowe Bergdahl
If you're reading this, you certainly already know the ongoing story of Bowe Bergdahl. Bergdahl was captured by the Taliban in 2009, and was held until 2014, when the United States traded back five Guantamo Bay prisoners for his release. The move was controversial, not least of which because Bergdahl was captured while deserting his post - a killing crime, not long ago. Bergdahl became a conscientious objector after seeing the relaities of the conflict first-hand. He wrote in a letter to his parents just before being captured:
"The future is too good to waste on lies. And life is way too short to care for the damnation of others, as well as to spend it helping fools with their ideas that are wrong."
Nidal Malik Hasan
Former Army psychologist Nidal Hasan was the perpetrator of the 2009 Ft. Hood shooting that left 13 dead. The same number of officers found him guilty on all charges, including an additional 32 counts of attempted murder. As of right now, Hasan is up for the death penalty. Some have labelled Hasan's attacks as terroristic in nature, as he was a practicing and proselytizing Muslim who had expressed "anti-American" sentiments before. Terrorist extremists have been quick to claim him as one of their own, a martyr to Islam in its ongoing jihad against the West. Others say Ft. Hood more closely fits the profile of workplace violence, and Hasan's faith was more a pretext for violence than a direct cause of it. Both may be correct.
Robert Bales
Of all the people on this list, few match Robert Bales for the rank of "Utter Bastard, Grade One." You probably know him better as the perpetrator of the Kandahar Massacre, the 2012 killing spree that left 16 innocent civilians dead in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Long story short, Bales got drunk, and wandered around town at night, executing men, women, and at least nine children. Some of them were as young as two years old. While it is true that stress from the war (including seeing his friend's leg blown off earlier in the day) certainly played some role in Bales' killing spree, life in prison seems like a fairly light sentence, all things considered.
Chelsea Manning
Chelsea Manning (born Brian Manning) is a hero to some and a villain to others. Manning was the driving force behind the WikiLeaks scandal, delivering three-quarters of a million classified documents to Julian Assange for distribution. Manning could have gotten the death sentence, but instead got 35 years in a military prison, with the possibility of parole after eight years. She began her gender transition shortly after the scandal broke, and spent two years fighting the military courts to allow her access to the hormone treatments necessary for her gender transition, and previously diagnosed gender identity disorder. She currently lives in the male section of the prison, but will transition to the female section later.
The Mai Lai Massacre
In the entire history of the United States, it's hard to find a more horrifying example of absolute military savagery than this. Led by William Calley, a group of over 100 men went on a psychotic rampage through two villages known to be friendly to the Vietcong. The result was a bloodbath that left over 500 (mostly women, children, and the elderly) dead. Torture, mutilation, and gang rape were the order of the day, as the battalion waded into a bloodbath that would make the Vikings blush. In a sense, the rage was understandable; the battallion had recently suffered heavy losses, and those areas were known to support the VC. On the other hand, however, nothing could excuse the atrocities committed by these uniformed soldiers.
Well, nothing except for Richard Nixon. While 26 men were charged with crimes, only Calley was convicted. And he ultimately had his death sentence reduced to house arrest, before gaining an outright pardon from Nixon.
Colombia Prostitution Scandal
Not a "Court Martial" exactly, but worth mentioning - especially as it would have been had it been the military instead of the DEA. In 2013, three members of the DEA worked together to hire a prostitute for a Special Service supervisor, due to arrive in advance of a presidential visit to Cartagena. The Secret Service agent got his night out, paid for by his friend at the DEA. To be fair to those involved, all of this was completely legal in Colombia, which has slightly more liberal attitudes about free market trade than the United States. No criminal charges were brought, because no laws were technically broken - though this would have been a court martial offense had it been in the military.
The Maywand "Kill Team"
Another example of mass murder in the Kandar Province (see Robert Bates), the Kill Team led by Jeremy Morlock was responsible for at least three murders of unarmed civilians in Afghanistan. Morlock, and his compatriot, Andrew Holmes, faked several combat situations for the sole purpose of hunting down civilians, and taking their body parts as trophies. In two of the cases, they recorded and uploaded videos of the kills. Michael Wagnon was convicted of assisting in the murders and possessing human trophies. Christopher Winfield was present, and did nothing to intervene in the murders - though he did report them and helped gain convictions for the rest of his Kill Team.