Father defends accused soldier
Associated Press
SAN ANTONIO » The father of a San Antonio soldier charged with premeditated murder in the death of an Iraqi man said his son is innocent of the crime and is a "true soldier" who was following orders.
Sgt. 1st Class Trey A. Corrales of San Antonio and Spc. Christopher P. Shore of Winder, Ga., were charged with one count of murder in the death, which allegedly occurred June 23 near the northern city of Kirkuk, the U.S. military announced yesterday.
Albert Corrales Sr., a 74-year-old retired Bexar County sheriff's deputy and Korean War veteran, said he had not talked with his son, a 34-year-old who graduated from Burbank High School and had most recently lived in Honolulu. However, he said his daughter-in-law told him the soldier was doing his job.
"I don't know what to think," the elder Corrales told the San Antonio Express-News in a story posted on its Web site yesterday. "He shouldn't be found guilty, because he was following orders."
Corrales said he was told his son was in a firefight with insurgents.
"I think that it's wrong because the people he supposedly shot, they were terrorists and he was under orders to clean them out, and he did," he said. "And after he did, he was charged."
Corrales and Shore are assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, which is part of the 25th Infantry Division based at Schofield Barracks. The unit is attached to Multinational Division-North.
The battalion commander, Lt. Col. Michael Browder, was relieved of his command in connection with the investigation although he is not a suspect and has not been charged, the military said.
A spokesman with Multinational Forces North said Corrales and Shore are still on their forward operating base in Kirkuk. The charges were brought after the killing of a middle-age Iraqi man, Master Sgt. David Rhodes said. He said reports from other soldiers prompted the charges.