The father of a Marine killed by "friendly fire" during Operation Desert Storm says he won't hang a price tag on his dead son by joining what he sees as an unjustified lawsuit.
"I just think that such a suit will do harm to people. Besides, there is no way that I would put a price on my boy's life," said James Stephenson, the Bountiful father of Lance Cpl. Dion James Stephenson.Dion Stephenson was killed when a missile struck his armored vehicle instead of an Iraqi target.
Relatives of the six other Marines killed in the same incident have brought suit against the missile's manufacturer, Hughes Aircraft Co. A Hughes spokesman has denied allegations in the suit.
Attorney Joel Kleinberg, who filed the lawsuit, said the allegations are based largely on a Marine Corps report on the incident.
An interview with the pilot of the A-10 aircraft from which the missile was fired shows it didn't perform properly and that the pilot didn't target the U.S. armored vehicle, Kleinberg said.
Stephenson told the Standard-Examiner on Tuesday the lawyer called him and his wife, Geri, several months ago asking them to join the lawsuit.
"I asked him at that time, "What makes you think the missile misfired?' His reply was that he didn't know that it did," Stephenson said.
He said the lawyer's effort was a good example of lawyers running amok.
"It seems like everybody in this day and age has to sue," he said.
Stephenson said the military has admitted there were "problems with logistics and friendly fire. . . . I see no evidence of missile malfunction."
More importantly, Stephenson said, "They are working to fix the problems. If I knew there was a problem and no one was moving to do something about it, then I would sue to save some other boy's, or girl's life. But that's not the case."
The seven 1st Marine Division soldiers were killed Jan. 29, 1991, during a battle near the border of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to retake the town of Khafji.
The California Superior Court lawsuit, which didn't set a damage claim, was filed on the first anniversary of the accident.