Family of Marine murdered in Afghanistan suing military

Three days before he was scheduled to come home from Afghanistan, Lance Cpl. Greg Buckley was killed.  Now his family wants answers from the military about his 2012 death.

According to FOX News, Buckley didn’t die on the battlefield.  The 21-year-old Marine was working out at the gym when an Afghan teenager walked in on him and fellow Marines, emptying the clip of an AK-47 into the unsuspecting troops.

His family is tired of asking questions and not getting any answers about his death.  As a last resort, they have filed a lawsuit against the Marine Corps and the Department of Defense.  They are not seeking financial gain.  They have stated that all they want is answers.  Answers on how their son died in the safe confines of the military compound.

Buckley’s family is accusing the military of hiding vital details of his murder.  His father feels that supervisors ignored cautionary warnings and allowed an Afghan police chief to live on the base.  Described as a seedy individual, Sarwar Jan was allegedly involved in selling drugs and weapons to the Taliban.  It was also rumored he brought young boys on post to act as sex slaves, also known as “tea boys.”

One of the alleged “tea boys” was the Afghan teen that opened fire on Buckley and his fellow Marines as they worked out in the gym.  The 17-year-old was convicted of the crime and sentenced to seven years in prison.

“He shot my son point blank with an AK-47.  Shot him four times in his chest and once in his neck.  He was in the gym with a pair of shorts and a tank top on,” said Buckley’s father, Gregory.  “How is that allowed?”

Michael Bowe, the attorney for the Buckley family, accuses the Marine Corps of blocking all the family’s efforts to get what every Gold Star family is entitled to – investigative and autopsy reports related to their son’s death.

Bowe said an autopsy report exists and “obviously the Marine Corps has uniformed officers who could come and brief the Buckleys, but they haven’t done any of that.”

The Buckley case joins widespread concern on how the U.S. military has handled the incident as a whole.  There has also been an accusation that another Marine had been punished for reporting the presence of Jan on the base.  It is alleged that Marine Jason Brezler was given an honorable discharge for warning fellow Marines about the Afghan police chief via his personal email account instead of proper military channels of communication.

FOX News reported that Buckley’s father said his son had a bad feeling before his death, fearing something was wrong at the base.

“He says we have a bad feeling that we are not going to be able to ever get home.  I think these people here are going to turn on us.  He says they’re just not right,” said Buckley’s grieving father.