Home Base For 'Thundering Third'

Most At Camp Pendleton Are Withholding Judgment On Marines Involved In Haditha Incident

(CBS)  Known as the Marines' "Thundering Third," the unit responsible for the deaths in Haditha, Iraq, is back at Camp Pendleton in California. It's home base for the Third Battalion, First Marines — and, reports CBS News correspondent Sandra Hughes, it's mostly friendly territory for the troops now under investigation.

"The truth will come out and the Marine Corps will do the right thing," says retired Marine Col. Christopher Wright, who now heads the First Marine Division Association in nearby Oceanside, Calif., which provides services to widows and disabled veterans. Wright is worried that what happened in Haditha could harm the reputation of every Marine.

"The Third Battalion, First Marines, they're a great battalion," he says. "Many of the Marines over ther, that was their third deployment over there. It's really sad to see everyone focus on this possible lapse in judgment."

Some people are comparing the Haditha killings to the My Lai massacre in Vietnam. That worries retired Sgt. Maj. Juan Duff. Still, he understands.

"In war," he says, "innocent people do die. Sometimes good people are put in bad situations."

Down the street at GI Joe's, where the Marines get their gear before heading to Iraq, owner Robert Alexander has heard war stories since Vietnam.

"It's that gray area — the fog of war," he says. "I had a hard time believing they executed those people. I really do."

But Alexander admits that he sees the stress on the Marines after a tour in Iraq.

"You see those guys change ... big time, big time," he says.

But Camp Pendleton is a company town, and almost everyone is withholding judgment — waiting to hear the Marines' side of the story.

All three commanding officers have been reassigned to non-leadership positions here. One of them says it makes his blood boil to be blamed for what he calls a "massacre" — when he wasn't even in Haditha that day.