YONGSAN GARRISON, South Korea — Three U.S. Army enlisted soldiers face courts-martial after being charged this week with beating three people on three separate occasions on the main military base here and in Seoul, according to 8th Army officials.
Pvt. Henry C. Hall Jr., Pfc. Demetry L. Randall and Pvt. Rodney A. Brackens Jr. — all with the 305th Quartermaster Company at Camp Coiner — face charges ranging from assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm, assault consummated by battery, lying to investigators or hindering their investigations about the alleged fights and about allegedly drinking while under age 21, military documents explaining the charges say.
Conviction on some of the charges could result in jail time.
Most recently, on Dec. 10 on Yongsan, the soldiers are charged with maiming their victim by “punching, kicking, and stomping his head, thereby causing neurological damage, reduced muscular strength and reduced bodily coordination and mobility,” according to the military documents..
In August near Itaewon, a victim suffered deep cuts to his skull and a broken finger, the documents say. The third incident, on Nov. 30 in Seoul, involved punches to the victim’s face, according to the documents.
Citing privacy laws, 8th Army officials declined to release the victims’ names, the ages of the accused or their hometowns.
All three soldiers remain on active-duty status and have been held at a military confinement facility at Camp Humphreys since Dec. 10, said 8th Army spokeswoman Maj. Kate Johnson.
“That three individuals were placed immediately in a holding facility because of the severity of the injuries suffered, that indicates how serious we are about maintaining order and discipline,” Johnson said. “Safety is a prime directive for all of us.”
The spokeswoman said she could not say whether the incidents were random. She did say the Dec. 10 fight on Yongsan led military investigators to discover evidence of the other fights.
Army Spc. Eric Huff told the Antelope Valley Press, a Southern California newspaper, that he was the victim of the Dec. 10 attack. Huff, 20, was due to fly home that day after a two-year assignment in South Korea, the newspaper reported on Dec. 30. Instead, he opened his barracks door, started talking to some men and woke up in the hospital a few days later, he told the paper.
Huff’s parents got a call about 4 a.m. Dec. 10 and soon flew to South Korea, the Press reported. Huff still had footprints on his face and head when they arrived, and he has since lost his equilibrium and the left side of his body tingles and goes numb, the paper reported.
Huff could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday night. Johnson would not confirm that Huff was a victim in the fight. She did say Huff is on rehab status with the Medical Hold Company at Madigan Army Medical Hospital in Fort Lewis, Wash. Previously, he had been assigned to the 17th Aviation Brigade.
Investigations in the case continue, Johnson added. The next step for the three soldiers charged is an Article 32 hearing, in which military prosecutors must show that enough evidence exists to justify having charged the trio. That hearing has not been scheduled, Johnson said.
