Jayson J Rother

Lance Cpl. Jayson J. Rother was one tough Marine, but the stark, chocolate-brown mountains and the furnace-hot desert of San Bernardino County where he was lost proved to be tougher. Left stranded by his outfit last summer, Rother, 19, disappeared somewhere out on the firing ranges of the 932-square-mile Marine Air-Ground Combat Center north of here.

The skull of a Marine who was inadvertently left in the desert after night maneuvers in 1988 was found about 3 miles from where his other remains were recovered more than a year ago, officials said. Geology students came across the skull Jan. 6 during a dig near National Trails Highway outside the grounds of the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, about 180 miles east of Los Angeles, a Marine Corps spokesman said. Dental records confirmed the skull was that of Lance Cpl.

A military judge Wednesday convicted a Marine sergeant of negligence for his actions following the abandonment of a Marine who died in the Mojave Desert. Sgt. Christopher Clyde was the platoon sergeant of Lance Cpl. Jason Rother, who was left behind after being posted as a road guide for an exercise near Twentynine Palms last Aug. 30. The remains of Rother, 19, of Minneapolis, were not found until December. Maj.

An officer convicted in the death of a Marine lance corporal who was left in the Mojave Desert last August was sentenced Saturday to four months in the brig and will be dismissed from the Marine Corps. A jury of eight officers deliberated about two hours before recommending the sentence for 1st Lt. Allen Lawson. Earlier, the same jury convicted Lawson of dereliction of duty and an unrelated charge of appearing drunk in public in December in deliberations that ended about midnight Friday.

An officer convicted in the death of a Marine lance corporal who was left in the Mojave Desert last August was sentenced Saturday to four months in the brig and will be dismissed from the Marine Corps. A jury of eight officers deliberated about two hours before recommending the sentence for 1st Lt. Allen Lawson. Earlier, the same jury convicted Lawson of dereliction of duty and an unrelated charge of appearing drunk in public in December in deliberations that ended about midnight Friday.

"Poor planning" and a "total breakdown" in the chain of command were to blame in the death of Marine Lance Cpl. Jason J. Rother, 19, during desert training exercises at Twentynine Palms last summer, according a report released Monday by Marine Corps headquarters. The conduct of Rother's commanders "contradicts every principle of concerned leadership on which we (Marines) have traditionally prided ourselves," Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Al Gray said in a statement.

Military prosecutors dropped charges against a Marine sergeant accused in the death of a fellow Marine forgotten in the Southern California desert because the officer who convened the sergeant's court-martial was relieved of duty for his role in the incident. Defense attorneys argued that battalion commander Lt. Col. Edward J. Robeson's "personal interest in the case would hamper the impartiality of the trial" in which Sgt.

A friend of a Marine who died when he was left behind in the Mojave Desert after a training exercise testified in Camp Lejeune, N.C., that he had asked about his friend's absence a day before he was reported missing. There was "total confusion" when Lance Cpl. Jason Rother was discovered missing, Lance Cpl. Kevin Robertson said at the court-martial of Rother's platoon sergeant. Sgt. Christopher Clyde is charged with dereliction of duty and disobeying an order.

The skull of a Marine who was inadvertently left in the desert after night maneuvers in 1988 was found about 3 miles from where his other remains were recovered more than a year ago, officials said. Geology students came across the skull Jan. 6 during a dig near National Trails Highway outside the grounds of the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, about 180 miles east of Los Angeles, a Marine Corps spokesman said. Dental records confirmed the skull was that of Lance Cpl.

A military judge Wednesday convicted a Marine sergeant of negligence for his actions following the abandonment of a Marine who died in the Mojave Desert. Sgt. Christopher Clyde was the platoon sergeant of Lance Cpl. Jason Rother, who was left behind after being posted as a road guide for an exercise near Twentynine Palms last Aug. 30. The remains of Rother, 19, of Minneapolis, were not found until December. Maj.

A friend of a Marine who died when he was left behind in the Mojave Desert after a training exercise testified in Camp Lejeune, N.C., that he had asked about his friend's absence a day before he was reported missing. There was "total confusion" when Lance Cpl. Jason Rother was discovered missing, Lance Cpl. Kevin Robertson said at the court-martial of Rother's platoon sergeant. Sgt. Christopher Clyde is charged with dereliction of duty and disobeying an order.

Military prosecutors dropped charges against a Marine sergeant accused in the death of a fellow Marine forgotten in the Southern California desert because the officer who convened the sergeant's court-martial was relieved of duty for his role in the incident. Defense attorneys argued that battalion commander Lt. Col. Edward J. Robeson's "personal interest in the case would hamper the impartiality of the trial" in which Sgt.

"Poor planning" and a "total breakdown" in the chain of command were to blame in the death of Marine Lance Cpl. Jason J. Rother, 19, during desert training exercises at Twentynine Palms last summer, according a report released Monday by Marine Corps headquarters. The conduct of Rother's commanders "contradicts every principle of concerned leadership on which we (Marines) have traditionally prided ourselves," Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Al Gray said in a statement.

Lance Cpl. Jayson J. Rother was one tough Marine, but the stark, chocolate-brown mountains and the furnace-hot desert of San Bernardino County where he was lost proved to be tougher. Left stranded by his outfit last summer, Rother, 19, disappeared somewhere out on the firing ranges of the 932-square-mile Marine Air-Ground Combat Center north of here.