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CHARLESTON, W.Va. – West Virginia’s (search) two senators are calling for investigations into the death of a Marine recruit who drowned during a water survival training exercise.
Jason Tharp — of Sutton, W. Va. — died Feb. 8 at the Marine Corps base at Parris Island (search), S.C.
The day before his death, a TV station in Columbia (search), S.C., caught Tharp on video being grabbed and shoved by a Marine drill instructor. The instructor and four other Marines who witnessed the incident have been suspended pending an investigation.
Sen. Robert Byrd asked Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to give the investigation his “personal attention.”
Meanwhile, Sen. Jay Rockefeller has asked a Marine commandant to conduct a “full investigation.”