Carmelo Rodriguez III was a U.S. Marine. He served his country withhonor in Iraq. Just like every other "Devil Dog" I've met in Iraq andelsewhere, he was proud to serve â?? and even prouder to be a member of"The Corps."
He was your typical fit, gung-ho Marine: 5'10 and185 pounds ofmuscle and moxie. He was 29 years old. When I met Sgt. Rodriguez heweighed about 77 pounds. He was dying of cancer.
That alone is enough to give anyone with a heart pause. But that'snot the end and far from the beginning of the Carmelo Rodriquez story.
At first, we weren't sure we had a story. Producer Rodney Comriereceived a phone call from the family's attorney who said the he wasrepresenting the family of a Marine who said his skin cancer wasmisdiagnosed while serving in Iraq. The attorney told us that the Sgt.was very weak, but that he'd be willing to talk to you â?? as would hisfamily.
So, the next day, we headed north, and fortunately our camera crewwas ahead of us. They got to the house well before Rodney and I did.Veteran cameraman Henry Bautista (who has covered war and despairaround the world) met us at the door.
"This is a tough one," he said.
Henry is as talented and as tough as any network cameraman I'veever worked with. We were taken by his tone. You could tell he wasmoved by the images his camera captured and the people he met. IfRodriguez's situation could get to Henry, I thought to myself, then itmust be bad.
Once inside the house, Rodney and I made our introductions and wereushered to a rear bedroom to meet Sgt. Rodriguez. His uniform washanging on a wall. His 7-year-old son Carmelo the 4th was sitting athis side.
As we were preparing for the interview, Sgt. Rodriguez died. Thehouse erupted in screams and tears. It was the kind of raw emotionyou'd expect when a family loses a loved one. We were prepared toleave: Pack our gear and get lost. But the family insisted we stay.They wanted to honor Carmelo Rodriguez by telling his story.
For the Rodriguez family and hundreds just like them, their fightwasn't against the Marines or their country but against a 50-year-oldlaw called the Feres Doctrine.
So we started working on a story about military malpractice and the Feres Doctrine. In 1950, a
Supreme Court rulingnow known as the Feres Doctrine, prohibited active duty members of theU.S. military from suing the military for negligence or medicalmalpractice for injuries unrelated to their service. In other words,unlike any other U.S. citizen, men and women in the military cannot suethe government for negligence or malpractice.
A team of CBS News producers (Comrie as well as Betty Chin)researched this story. What they learned is the military's position haslong been the Feres Doctrine is important to "maintaining good orderand discipline."
The U.S. Supreme Court last upheld the Feres Doctrine in 1987. Inhis dissenting opinion, Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia wrote"Feres was wrongly decided and heartily deserves the widespread, almostuniversal criticism it has received."
Towards the end of his life, Sgt. Carmelo Rodriguez made clear heloved the Marine Corps and he loved his country. But with all theenergy and passion left in his body, he took dead aim at the FeresDoctrine.
"I just want to save the next Marine," he said.
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