question. yes, captain. i was given an order by my squad leader lance corporal harold w. dawson, united states marine corps and i followed it. the court would find the orders came from dawson and downey s higher up, lieutenant john kendrick and his higher up who are eventually taken into custody and charged with murder. they didn t kill santiago, themselves, but the order made them guilty. dawson and downey are acquitted but dishonorably discharged. why? what did we do wrong? we did nothing wrong. yeah, we did. we were supposed to fight for people who couldn t fight for themselveses. we were supposed to fight for willie. responsible, but not guilty. the low-level staffers in cincinnati who were told to target conservative groups should have questioned their orders, but ultimately their superiors bear the brunt of the responsibility. until we learn who gave the order and how high up it went,
end up getting terminated over this, they ll be responsible, but not guilty. if we never want this to happen again, the higher ups who gave the orders must pay the price. all this reminds me of one of my favorite movies a few good men. two low-level marines are charged with murder after a controversial disciplinary measure called a code red results in the death of another marine. you want to ask me about code reds on the record, i tell you, i discourage the practice in accordance with the commander s directive. off the record, i tell you it is an invaluable part of close infantry training, and if it happens to go on without my knowledge, so be it. dawson and downey didn t invent code reds nor come up with the idea to discipline willie santiago themselves. turns out as their attorneys would learn they were simply following orders. did lance corporal dawson tell you to give santiago a code red? don t look at him. how? answer the captain s