Rank Private (E-1) Name Wassef Hassoun | Battles and wars Iraq War | |
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Born January 1, 1980 (age 44)
Lebanon ( 1980-01-01 ) Years of service 2002-2016 (on active duty appellate leave)
(deserted 2004-2014) Battles/wars Iraq War
Operation Iraqi Freedom Service/branch United States Marine Corps | ||
Wassef ali hassoun
Wassef Ali Hassoun (Arabic: واصف علي حسون; born January 1, 1980) is a United States Marine who was charged with desertion for leaving his unit and engaging with others in a hoax to make it appear that he had been captured by terrorists on June 19, 2004 while serving in Iraq. Originally listed as having deserted, the Lebanese-born U.S. Marine was then thought to have been taken hostage by Iraqis who were thought to have befriended him.
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Career
Al Jazeera broadcast a video of Hassoun on June 27, 2004, blindfolded and with a masked man holding a sword over his head, saying that he had been captured. His "kidnappers" identified themselves as part of "Islamic Response", the security wing of the "National Islamic Resistance" 1920 Revolution Brigades. On July 3, 2004, Al Jazeera reported that the terrorist group Jaish Ansar al-Sunna had released a statement declaring they had beheaded Hassoun, and their website confirmed this. On July 4 it was reported al-Sunna denied this, and on July 6, Al Jazeera reported receipt of a message he'd been "taken to a safe location" after he promised to desert from the U.S. Marine Corps. On July 7, CNN reported that Hassoun had contacted his family in West Jordan, Utah and Lebanon from the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, asking to be picked up at an unspecified location. The Houston Chronicle stated later that afternoon his family, as well as the embassy in question, deny that the telephone call had taken place.
On July 8, U.S. State Department spokesman Richard A. Boucher announced that Hassoun had arrived at the embassy in Beirut at 11 am EDT, and was in good health.
A preliminary result of the U.S. Navy investigation into the activities of Hassoun concluded that he deserted the U.S. Marine Corps on June 21, 2004. In mid-July, he publicly denied desertion.
On December 9, 2004, The Pentagon announced that Hassoun would be charged with desertion, larceny and wrongful disposition of military property in connection with his service-issued M9 pistol that disappeared with him and never turned up. If convicted, he faced a dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of pay, and from five to ten years incarceration on each specification.
In a further development, on January 4, 2005, he was again labelled a deserter after failing to return to his base in North Carolina from authorized leave. He reportedly fled to Lebanon.
On June 29, 2014, Hassoun was reported to have turned himself in to U.S. authorities on the charges of desertion.
On February 23, 2015, Hassoun was found guilty of deserting when he disappeared in 2004 and 2005. He was also convicted of causing the loss of his service pistol. His sentence amounts to two years and five days, but he got credit for approximately eight months he spent in pretrial confinement. Hassoun also will have his rank reduced, lose his pay and receive a dishonorable discharge as part of the sentence. He was discharged in 2016.