A Gold Star family is suing the Marine Corps and other Defense Department agencies, alleging a coordinated, illegal effort to suppress details about the insider attack that claimed three Marines' lives in Afghanistan.
The lawsuit was filed in federal court Wednesday by the family of Lance Cpl. Greg Buckley Jr. It seeks the release of investigative materials and autopsy results connected to the 2012 murders, which were carried out by an Afghan teenager at a base in the Garmser district of Afghanistan's Helmand province.
The complaint also accuses the Marine Corps of callously and incorrectly directing Buckley's family to seek specifics about the attack via the federal Freedom of Information Act, only to ignore their request once it was submitted. It names the Marine Corps, departing commandant Gen. Jim Amos, the Defense Department, Navy Department and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
"In short, these Gold Star families were sent on an unnecessary and emotionally traumatizing wild-goose chase for information the Marine Corps was legally obligated to provide in the first place but is obviously determined to never provide," the complaint reads.
A spokesman for Amos, Col. Dave Lapan, said the general has no comment and that, as a matter of policy, the Marine Corps does not discuss pending litigation.
This is not the first time Buckley's family has made a public plea for information about the incident. His father, Gregory Buckley Sr., and his aunt, Mary Liz Grosseto, have blasted the Marine Corps and the NCIS over what they view as undue secrecy. Most recently, they told reporters their family felt "betrayed" when military officials failed to tell them about the gunman's trial before it occurred and a sentence had been passed.
In December 2013, Buckley and Grosseto appeared on Fox News to voice support for Maj. Jason Brezler. A Marine civil affairs officer, Brezler was disciplined by the Corps after he used an unsecured personal email account to warn Marines in Garmser about the threat they faced from the teenage gunman's employer, a shady Afghan cop with a history of illegal activity. If Brezler's warning had been heeded, the Buckley family said, the murdered Marines might still be alive.
Marine Corps officials have disputed the Buckley family's claims that information was intentionally withheld from them. They've also pushed back against criticism stemming from the service's notification to the families of the gunman's trial in July, releasing through the media a timeline of official communications throughout the past two years.
Buckley Jr., 21, was killed Aug. 10, 2012, at Forward Operating Base Delhi. The shooter, Ainuddin Khudairaham, obtained an AK47 and opened fire on him and Cpl. Richard Rivera and Staff Sgt. Scott Dickinson while they were exercising.
After some dispute over his age, Khudairaham was tried as a juvenile and sentenced to 7½ years in prison. His boss, Sarwar Jan, went free.
Attorney Michael Bowe, who represents Buckley Sr. and Grosseto pro bono, said his clients aren't looking for anything but the answers they were owed.
"Gold Star families shouldn't have to beg or sue to get the respect, information, and assistance to which they are legally and morally entitled," he said. "This is a sad and shameful day."
