Benis M. Frank, USMC Historical Center
Appeals to a broad popular audience while making a serious contribution to the field.


Brig. Gen. Duane Faw, USMC, Ret., legal officer at Parris Island during the incident
How Stevens can write! I was there, and he made me relive the feelings I had at the time.


Gary Solis, author of Son Thang: An American War Crime
Exceptionally readable, Court-Martial at Parris Island makes an important contribution to the field of military law. Judge Stevens presents an interesting range of viewpoints, from recruit to general officer, on this watershed event in Marine Corps history, and his style is highly engaging."


Book Description
On April 8, 1956, drill instructor Matthew McKeon led Platoon 71 on a forced night march through the backwaters of the Parris Island recruit depot in an effort to restore flagging discipline. An unexpected and extraordinarily strong tidal current in Ribbon Creek swept over the recruits, and in the panic that followed six men drowned. This book is the story of that night, the recruits of Platoon 71, and especially Staff Sergeant McKeon and his court-martial. The Ribbon Creek incident, as it came to be called, rapidly escalated into a national news story, replete with tabloid sensationalism. With the Marine Corps seeking a scapegoat, McKeon's fate seemed sealed until a skilled New York trial lawyer, sensing injustice, agreed to defend the sergeant without fee and mounted a massive public relations campaign to sway public opinion. The name of that defense attorney, Emile Zola Berman, is but one of a number of haunting parallels to the renowned Dreyfus court-martial in France fifty years earlier. The final verdict pits Marine Corps tradition against conscience in the pursuit of justice. The author, a former marine and an experienced trial lawyer and judge, spells out in detail for the first time the strategies and tactics of the prosecution and the defense, while maintaining a sharp focus on the human side of the tragedy. Based on exhaustive research and interviews with the participants, including McKeon, his book presents an account of the incident from a wide range of perspectives. The riveting narrative rivals the best courtroom fiction.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

On April 8, 1956, drill instructor Matthew McKeon led Platoon 71 on a forced night march through the backwaters of the Parris Island recruit depot in an effort to restore flagging discipline. An unexpected and extraordinarily strong tidal current in Ribbon Creek swept over the recruits, and in the panic that followed six men drowned. This book is the story of that night, the recruits of Platoon 71, and especially Staff Sergeant McKeon and his court-martial. The author, a former marine and an experienced trial lawyer and judge, spells out in detail for the first time the strategies and tactics of the prosecution and the defense, while maintaining a sharp focus on the human side of the tragedy. Based on exhaustive research and interviews with the participants, including McKeon, his book presents an account of the incident from a wide range of perspectives.

FROM THE CRITICS

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