SUMMARY

US Marines Lance Corporal Harold Dawson and Private Louden Downey

were facing a court-martial accused of killing fellow Marine Private Wlliam
Santiago at the Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba. Santiago was known to have
unfavorable relationship with his fellow Marines and also failed to develop a
good respect for his chain of command in attempts at being transferred to another
base.

An argument arose between the base commander Colonel Nathan Jessup and
his officers regarding the transfer of Santiago. Lieutenant Colonel Matthew
Markinson favored the immediate transfer of Santiago which Jessup vehemently
opposed because the latter took it as surrender and ordered that Santiago be
transferred immediately.

When Dawson and Downey was arrested for Santiago’s murder, naval
investigator and lawyer Lieutenant Commander JoAnne Galloway suspected
that they carried out a ‘’code red’ order, a violent extrajudicial punishment.
Galloway requested to defend them in the miiitary court but the case was given
to Kaffee. He as a lawyer was known to have tendency to plea for bargain, hence
Gallowa always interfered and such created a friction between Kaffee and
Galloway. Kaffee and the prosecutor, Captain Jack Ross who turned out to be his
friend negotiate d a bargain but Downey and Dawson refused the bargain. They
wanted to prove that they were indeed given a “code red.” They insisted that they
were ordered by Kendrick to shave the head of Santiago. The victim was gagged
with piece of cloth in his mouth and that caused his death. Medical records of
Santiago presented in the court showed that he had respiratory disorders and such
was the cause of his death when he was gagged.

Galloway was able to successfully take the case in court with Kaffee as the
defense lawyer. In the course of the trial the defense managed to establish that
there was indeed a “code red” order. Kaffee also managed to speak to Markinson
in secret. Markinson revealed to Kaffee that Jessup never really intended to
transfer Santiago. Markinson thought he was failure as an officer so he preferred
to die rather than to testify in court. He committed suicide shortly after revealing
the truth to Kaffee.

The unexpected death of Markinson was a big blow for Kaffee because the
latter was supposed to be one of their credible witnesses. Kaffee considered the
case lost but Galloway convinced him to invite Jessup in the witness stand. That
was what he did despite the risk of being court-martialled for for smearing an
officer. Jessup outsmarted Kaffee in some questions but the latter lashed out on
him with questions that squeezed out all the truth from him. Jesssup finally
admitted that he indeed gave a “code red” order which he carried out through
Kendrick. It came out that there was really no effort by him as to the tranfer of
Santiago. The order was made after the death of Santiago as an attempt to cover
up for his failure as an officer.

Both Jessup and Kendrick were arrested for their actions. Soon afterwards,
Downey and Dawson were cleared of the murder charge but were honorably
discharged because they were found guilty of “conduct unbecoming of Unite
States Marine,” Dawson accepted the verdict but Downey was confused about
what they had done wrong. Dawson made Downey understand that they failed to
stand up for those who are too weak to fight.

REACTION

The movie is indeed worth watching. It is not everyday that we get to watch
such a movie that is not only entertaining but brings us to real a world that we
may never see in this lifetime. The story is well written and it is very evident that
the writer really knew what he wrote about. He has shown us the joy and
struggles of men and women in military and how they deal with the kind of life
they vowed to live not to mention the sacrifices they have to make in serving
their country.

The movie is also well acted. Each of the actors gave justice to his role. The
lines are well delivered such that they would remembered long after it had been
heard. The actors were chosen from a roster of versatile actors in Hollywood
making it a big budgeted film which grossed more than 200 millions dollars in
the box office.

There was one thing that struck me the most in this movie. It is the “code
red.” It sounded familiar to me but I didn’t know what it was until I watched this
movie. I didn’t know that it was an extra judicial punishment carried on to
discipline wayward soldiers. The biggest risk is that some soldiers may die in the
process just like hat happened to Santiago. It was nobody’s intention to kll him.
It was an accident but someone must take responsibility of his death. In this case
it is the two high ranking officers Jessup and Kendrick who were responsible.
The two soldiers just obeyed their officers, hence they are not guilty of murder.

The movie has taught us to be brave enough to face the consequences of our
own actions.