Threat to National Security

By Harry Liller

The Marines are looking for a few good men to betray, abuse, and kill! Marine Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North, as national security advisor, unleashes a living hell upon marine Sergeant Harry Liller.FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover personally relished committing horrible criminal acts against Liller and his mother when he was a child. The FBI continually commits felony criminal acts against Liller for the past sixty years!New York Mafia boss of bosses Carlo Gambino and Pittsburgh Mafia gambling boss Tony Grosso are Liller's loyal friends, while New Orleans Mafia boss Carlos Marcello loves Liller's father.Liller has the same problem gangster legend Benjamin Siegel had, falling in love with a beautiful woman. Tina is a wild, free-spirited, beautiful Cherokee who traps his heart.When Karen, a beautiful African American woman, meets Liller, sparks fly between them, enough to make Navy sailors commit arson and destroy a six-story Marine supply building to avenge Karen's broken heart.Meanwhile, President George H. W. Bush orders the CIA to classify Sergeant Harry Liller as a presidential assassin!This is the true story of Marine Sergeant Harry Liller. Semper lie!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jan 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9781646288526

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Threat to National Security

Harry Liller

Copyright © 2022 Harry Liller

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2022

ISBN 978-1-64628-851-9 (pbk)

ISBN 978-1-64628-852-6 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

About the Author

To my sister Tracy and mother Connie, both of you made me a loving and caring man.

Chapter 1

Murder cannot be long hid.

—Macbeth, William Shakespeare

Father, I punched out a guy and decked him last week because he was not moving fast enough in front of me during a physical training exercise.

Private Kevin McNeeley was in Navy Chaplain John Moore's office on the Marine Recruit Training Base in San Diego, pleading for the chaplain's understanding. The chaplain remained silent, studying McNeeley's face. Nervously, McNeeley looked down at the desk calendar in front of him. The date was Thursday, July 13, 1978. If only he could make the chaplain understand that this was not normal behavior for him and he didn't like himself very much for what he had done. Why didn't the chaplain say something?

Finally, the chaplain spoke. Kevin, you are taught to kill for the safety of our country.

But, sir, this is not like me. I think it's unfair to punish a whole platoon when one recruit screws up. If it's my fault, then I should pay the price. I don't want the rest of the platoon to have to suffer. And I don't want to suffer for someone else either. McNeeley finally looked up from the calendar, waiting for some kind words of wisdom that would help.

Those practices that you find so unpleasant, Kevin, help build teamwork, the chaplain said.

Maybe, sir, McNeeley challenged, but I feel like the Marine recruiter lied to me. I can't be a killer robot.

What do you want from me? the chaplain asked.

I want you to advise me how to get out of here, McNeeley pleaded. I wrote to Senator Metzenbaum. I told him about the Marines' recruiting practices and their training practices that have caused recruits to inflict serious self-injuries. But I haven't heard from him. I don't know what else to do. I can't take it anymore.

The chaplain could feel McNeeley's frustrations. This was not the first Marine recruit that had sought out his counsel for this very same problem. So many became Marines to become men and found out that they had no taste for what the Marines demanded of them. The chaplain said softly, You should become defiant, my son. If you do not follow orders, sooner or later, you will be discharged, more than likely dishonorably. It's a drastic measure, and it will be most unpleasant for you. But if you cannot kill, then you should not continue to train to kill.

Thank you, Father John, McNeeley said quietly. He had considered this very solution, but he had hoped that there would be another way.

Good luck, and God bless you. The chaplain took both of McNeeley's hands in his. McNeeley turned and left the room.

Outside the chaplain's door, an escort waited. They both walked out of the building and back to the barracks. McNeeley always had an escort since he had attempted suicide before. He still remembered the hospital stay. He had beaten his groin with a flashlight until stopped by his friends. Then he slashed his wrists during his hospitalization. He didn't want to go back to the hospital again.

Inside, they went to the far end of the barracks to the drill instructor's office and knocked on the opened door.

Private McNeeley reporting as ordered, sir! McNeeley yelled.

The DI looked up from his desk, staring at McNeeley momentarily, and said, Report to training, private!

No, sir! McNeeley barked at the DI.

You are ordered to report to training, maggot! the DI yelled.

McNeeley took a deep breath, swallowed hard, and yelled, No, sir!

The DI picked up the telephone, all the while staring at McNeeley. Get me the company commander, he barked into the telephone receiver.

He waited, in silence, for the connection, never taking his eyes off the young man in front of him. McNeeley stared back. He'd be damned if he'd let this asshole know how frightened he was.

Captain, the DI stated, this is Sergeant Walker. We have a defiant recruit here. I am requesting a disciplinary hearing, right now. Private McNeeley is criminally charged with the failure to obey a direct order from his immediate superior.

The DI paused, listening, then said, Thank you, sir. We'll be here. His eyes never left McNeeley's. He slowly put the phone back in its cradle and smiled maliciously. Well, kid, we'll see how brave you are after the captain gets here.

The ten minutes it took the captain to arrive were the longest in the new recruit's life. He stood still, trying to calm the rising panic. And all the while, the DI stared and smiled. Finally, the captain walked in.

What's the problem? Captain Wilson asked, looking from one man to the other.

Private McNeeley will not report to training as ordered, sir, the DI barked.

In a sympathetic voice, the captain warned the young recruit, Listen, son, if you do not report to training, you could be punished and quite severely. It could mean hard labor at the correctional custody platoon. Do you understand what I'm saying, Private?

Yes, sir, McNeeley said quietly.

The captain tried once more. Private, you are ordered to report to training. Why couldn't this kid understand? He could not allow him to defy the DI's orders. The Marines had to instill a discipline, to breed an instinct of obedience in these recruits. If this recruit was allowed to defy orders, with minimal punishment, others would try the same tactic, and control would be lost. If Private McNeeley persisted in his insane refusal to obey, then he would have to be made an example to any others who were unhappy with the Marines' methods.

McNeeley still held on to his belief that through defiance he could get out of this hellhole. There was only one request that would insure his freedom. No, sir. I want a court-martial.

Captain Wilson was visibly upset. Private McNeeley, you are hereby under house arrest, pending-court martial proceedings. You will also be appointed legal counsel. Do you understand these rights?

Yes, sir, McNeeley said quietly. There was no going back now.

Wilson turned to Walker and said, Drill Instructor, escort Private McNeeley to the legal department.

Walker replied, Yes, sir! He was enjoying this.

A court-martial is like a felony criminal record that will follow you throughout life. A dishonorable discharge takes away most of your rights as an American citizen. You are better off taking the nonjudicial punishment, serve your sentence, complete boot camp, and get on with your life.

McNeeley listened to the Marine lawyer in silence. He was scared and confused. He hadn't realized that this would mean a criminal record.

Do what I say, and this will all be behind you.

Yes, sir, McNeeley replied. He would take the lawyer's advice. It was now up to the company commander to decide his punishment.

You can go now, the lawyer said. After McNeeley left the office, the lawyer shook his head slowly. Why don't they just do what they're told? Why can't they just learn to obey orders?

McNeeley left the office, and the DI was waiting in the main office. The DI stated, Well, Private, what are you going to do?

Take nonjudicial punishment, sir! McNeeley replied.

The DI called the company commander and told him what McNeeley said. Then they marched back to the commander's office. Outside the door, McNeeley cried out, Private McNeeley reporting for nonjudicial punishment, sir!

The captain replied, Front and center, Private. McNeeley entered the office and stood at attention in front of the captain's desk. The captain then stated, Private McNeeley, you are criminally charged with the violation of disobeying a lawful order. How do you plead?

Guilty, sir, McNeeley replied.

The captain said, Your punishment is three weeks of hard labor and a fine of two hundred dollars. Do you understand, Private?

Yes, sir was McNeeley's answer.

The captain then stated, Drill Instructor, escort Private McNeeley to the correctional custody platoon.

Yes, sir, the DI replied in agreement. The DI's smile told McNeeley that the recruit would be going to an even worse, more inhumane environment. The DI enjoyed informing McNeeley about CC, the correctional custody platoon, as both of them marched across the San Diego Marine Recruit Depot. What the recruit heard was not encouraging.

Long, painful, meaningless hard labor, the DI rambled on, carrying and swinging a heavy sixteen-pound sledgehammer, making pebbles out of large boulders, eight hours a day. Digging large, deep, long foxholes then shoveling the sandy dirt back in for eight hours the next day. Then the DI heckled him with an evil proposition. You want to get out? Fuck yourself up. I mean, inflict serious injuries to yourself. Broken bones, twisted knees, take your pick—it really doesn't matter. You better injure yourself serious enough to be hospitalized, then you will receive a medical discharge.

McNeeley was frightened now, as the DI left him at CC. McNeeley was administratively processed during the platoon's hard labor session. He was alone in the barracks before the platoon returned. His thoughts were racing furiously inside his mind, thinking only about getting out of the abusive, inhumane surroundings he was in. He rummaged through his belongings, trying to turn normal objects into lethal weapons. A simple can of metal polish, Brasso, was at the bottom of his duffel bag. The caution warning sign caught his attention. Harmful if swallowed or absorbed through skin. If swallowed, get immediate medical attention.

I didn't even want to drink it, I started to look for someone to give it to, but before I could find anyone and before I realized it, I was drinking it was how he would describe it later to news reporters. After McNeeley drank the metal polish cleaner, he passed out. The DI saw him fall and immediately called the Navy hospital. The ambulance was dispatched in seconds. The medics pulled up in front of the barracks in minutes. They unloaded the gurney and entered instantly. The spilled polish told the medics that their patient was a poison victim. They whisked him out of the barracks immediately. They radioed ahead to the hospital that they had a semiconscious victim of poisoning. The screeching of tires, the wailing of sirens, and the flashing lights bore witness to the ambulance's departure from the Marine base to its arrival at the Navy's emergency room.

McNeeley was rushed into the main emergency room, where a doctor and nurse were ready to evaluate him.

What did he swallow? the doctor asked.

Brasso, the EMT replied.

We need to dilute and neutralize the corrosive chemicals, the doctor stated.

If they pumped his stomach right now, the Brasso would destroy all the mucous membranes in the esophagus, throat, and mouth.

The nurse made McNeeley swallow a solution mixed with activated charcoal and saline. The charcoal was used as a sponge to absorb the toxic chemicals.

They waited about ten minutes for the solution to neutralize the Brasso. During this time, the nurse started securing McNeeley's wrists and ankles with restraints before they insert the stomach pump equipment.

The nurse started lubricating the stomach pump tube. The doctor then inserted the tube through McNeeley's nose. McNeeley started thrashing and gagging while the doctor slowly pushed the tube inch by inch toward the patient's stomach. McNeeley thrashed his head back and forth, trying to get the tube out.

The doctor taped the tube to McNeeley's nose so it won't dislodge. Then another dose of the neutralizing solution was inserted with a large syringe. They let the solution dilute the toxic chemicals inside McNeeley's stomach. A suction device was attached to the tube, and the diluted Brasso was vacuumed out of his stomach. The black powdered charcoal left a mess all over McNeeley and the linens he was lying on.

An intravenous tube was attached to McNeeley's arm with a small amount of dextrose in a lactated ringers solution to wash the kidneys out. The Brasso could develop permanent kidney damage if not treated.

After the patient was stabilized, the doctor had grim news. McNeeley could lose his esophagus and part of his stomach if the poisonous solution stayed inside his body long enough. McNeeley was solemn after hearing this. It was very tough to hear and understand the doctor's grim warning.

The doctor called the Marine correctional custody platoon.

He wanted McNeeley's next-of-kin information. His parents lived in Cleveland, Ohio.

The doctor asked, What Marine outfit is responsible for the Cleveland area?

The Fourth Marine Recruiting District Headquarters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, sir, the correctional custody DI replied.

The Fourth Marine Recruiting District Headquarters was responsible for the casualty and death notification as well as the recruiting assignments within a six-state region. Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky were within its boundaries. The headquarters resided in Building 75 on the Naval shipyard in Philadelphia. The shipyard was at the southern end of Broad Street, the main street that dissected Philadelphia in half that ran north to south throughout the city. The shipyard sat at the bottom of the hill from all the sports arenas: Veterans Stadium, the Spectrum, and the dilapidated JFK Stadium.

The main phone number was in the administrative office. It seemed like a regular phone call when it rang.

Fourth Marine Headquarters, may I help you, sir? answered Sergeant Frank Miller. Miller was the service record book clerk, an efficient clerk who grew up in Pottsville, Pennsylvania.

The Navy doctor replied, Casualty notification.

Who's on duty? Miller asked out loud.

I am, Corporal Harry Liller answered. Corporal Harry Gilbert Liller III was the unit diary clerk, the personnel computer clerk who was responsible for 750 Marines' paychecks and their computerized records.

Growing up in Library, Pennsylvania, a small coal town nine miles south of Pittsburgh, single, twenty years old, five foot eleven, jet black hair, and good looking, he could never have realized that this phone call would lead to the exposure of the worst illegal Marine recruiting activity since the abolition of the military draft in 1973.

Liller picked up the phone and said, Corporal Liller, may I help you?

Casualty notification, corporal.

Name.

Just write this all down at once!

Yes, sir.

Private Kevin J. McNeeley, age eighteen. Parents, Philomena and Lawrence A. McNeeley. Address, 12205 Brighton Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio. Hospitalized, serious condition, caused by swallowing metal cleaning solution, very poisonous. His stomach and esophagus may have to be removed. He is a patient in the intensive care unit at the Balboa Naval Hospital in San Diego, California. Notify his parents at once. Do you have any questions?

No, sir.

Liller scribbled down all the information as fast as he could, then he would rewrite it completely over in a professional, neat appearance.

Liller then added, I'll relay this information right away, sir.

Thank you, Corporal, the Navy doctor said, then he hung up the phone.

Liller called the Cleveland reserve office and relayed all the information that he just received. The reserve office would tell the McNeeley family in person. This notification would shatter the emotions of the entire McNeeley family.

Mrs. McNeeley then made travel plans to visit her ailing, hospitalized son. She would fly out to San Diego on the next available flight. Before she left, she notified Ohio US Senator Howard Metzenbaum of her son's hospitalization. Metzenbaum had already received Kevin McNeeley's threatening letter.

McNeeley told Metzenbaum of the horrible, inhumane conditions he endured. McNeeley warned Metzenbaum of his upcoming attempted suicide; he then made good on his promise.

Metzenbaum would later undertake an extensive investigation that would expose the corrupt illegal recruiting activities of the Fourth Marine District, an investigation that would only scratch the surface of an evil criminal military empire inside building 75 at the Philly Naval Shipyard, a criminal military regime that rivaled the Roman and Nazi regimes in terror.

The McNeeley family contacted the area newspapers, and the following newspaper articles were published.

The Cleveland Press

July 13, 1978

Writer: John Funk and Ron Kovach

Marine's Suicide Attempt Probed

Until Lawrence McNeeley sent the fourth of his seven sons to the Marine Corps, he believed in America and its armed forces.

Now, with his eighteen-year-old son, Kevin, lying in a Navy hospital, an alleged victim of harassment and broken promises, McNeeley is a man in doubt.

The younger McNeeley was in stable condition at Balboa Naval Hospital in San Diego after drinking a quantity of brass cleaner. His father told the Press his son's stomach and esophagus may have to be removed.

As a result of the McNeeley incident, Senator Howard Metzenbaum said today he will ask Defense Secretary Howard Brown and Senator John Stennis, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, to start an immediate investigation of Marine Corps recruiting practices.

A Metzenbaum spokesman said the senator's office has had numerous complaints about Marine recruiting practices in Cleveland, Dayton, Youngstown, and Columbus.

He said complaints include allegations that Marine recruiters promised specialized training to prospective recruits then reneged on the promises once the recruits went to boot camp.

Attempts to reach the Marine Corps spokesman for comment were unsuccessful.

Sitting in his living room at 12205 Brighton Avenue, the senior McNeeley tried in earnest to figure out what drove Kevin to down the caustic liquid.

We can't even imagine what happened, he said. We're told a drill sergeant told him to commit suicide.

Kevin, a 1977 John Marshall High School graduate and former swim team captain and baseball player there, entered the Marines on April 3 with the promise he would be given communications training, his mother, Philomena, said by telephone from San Diego. Mrs. McNeeley flew to San Diego to be with her son.

But the recruiter's promise was broken, according to Mrs. McNeeley, so Kevin took a chaplain's advice and refused to take orders. Personal harassment by his Marine superiors then started, she said.

He was happy to go—he left here smiling, looking forward to going into communications, said the father. Here was a healthy, perfectly normal kid, and now, after four months, I have a son who I don't know whether he'll live or die.

The senior McNeeley, himself partially disabled from a wound suffered during the Korean War, said, "The service never hurt none of my kids. I had one son shot down in Vietnam twice, but I've always believed a young man should serve his country.

Now, I guess I really would have to think hard before I'd let any of my sons join, he said. This has really shot my pride for the service and my country.

Mrs. McNeeley called Metzenbaum's Cleveland office in late June, saying her son had not been recruited properly, that he had emotional problems and was trying to get out of the Marines, and that the Marines had scheduled a court-martial for him for refusing to obey orders on the advice of the chaplain.

Mrs. McNeeley said her son told the chaplain five days ago that he was depressed and considered hurting himself. The chaplain, she said, had informed an officer of this, and a guard had been placed on the recruit.

In a handwritten six-page letter received last Monday at Metzenbaum's office, McNeeley said his drill instructor, in a reference to a suicide threat, told him: If you're going to do it, don't do it on my shift because it's too messy to clean up.

According to the Metzenbaum spokesman, McNeeley also wrote of attempts he made to obtain a military discharge, including striking himself in the groin with a flashlight and trying to cut his wrist.

He also threatened in the letter to drink Brasso (a brass polish), which he said other recruits had done. He said some recruits also had tried extreme means of getting a discharge, including slashing their wrists and even staring at a mirror in sunlight to try to become blind.

The letter also disclosed that McNeeley had been rejected by a Navy recruiter because tests showed that he had bad nerves.

But the Marine recruiter said not to worry about it, McNeeley wrote. About 5:00 p.m. that night I received a phone call from the Marine recruiter saying they need a recruit right away, and if I would join, I would become a contract private first class.

Mrs. McNeeley said that after her son first expressed interest in the Marines, a recruiter came to the house and made a high-pressure pitch on behalf of the Marines. However, she said the recruiter was very pleasant.

The recruiter made the job sound so wonderful—I was ready to join, Mrs. McNeeley said. He said my son would get training in communications, then he'd be able to qualify for many jobs once he got out.

Said her husband, We pinpointed the recruiter on that. I asked him point-blank, and he said he would guarantee it.

Mrs. McNeeley said her son was very distraught when he was told there were no openings in communications. She said the chaplain advised her son he could gain a discharge because the Marines had broken some sort of contract. That chaplain, she said, has been transferred to the Philippines.

Mrs. McNeeley said letters from her son were just pitiful.

He was so unhappy, she said. He'd write that he couldn't stand it there—they're really giving me the business.

She said it was emotional abuse and not physical activity that depressed her son.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer

July 13, 1978

Writer: Carl Kovac

Metzenbaum Seeks Probe in Suicide Attempt by Marine

The attempted suicide of a Cleveland Marine Corps recruit in San Diego may spur a federal investigation into Marine enlistment practices.

Private Kevin McNeeley, 18, son of Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence McNeeley, 12205 Brighton Avenue, was in serious condition last night in the intensive care unit of the Naval Regional Medical Center in Balboa, California.

A spokesman at the San Diego Marine Corps Recruit Depot, where McNeeley was going through boot camp, said McNeeley had swallowed some metal polish Tuesday after a disciplinary hearing before a company officer.

The spokesman would not say what McNeeley's offense was or what the punishment consisted of, stating that would be an invasion of McNeeley's privacy.

McNeeley had earlier complained to Senator Howard Metzenbaum about improper recruiting practices and conditions in boot camp. After he heard of the attempted suicide, Metzenbaum said last night that within the next 24 hours, I will ask Senator Stennis, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Secretary of Defense Harold Brown to investigate Marine Corps (recruiting) practices.

One question Metzenbaum intends to ask, he said, is how thoroughly the Marine Corps screens candidates before signing them up.

I am appalled at the information that has reached me about recruiting practices used by the Marine Corps in Cleveland, Metzenbaum said.

My Cleveland office has been investigating complaints of Marine recruits and their families. The tragic incident involving an apparent suicide by a young Clevelander clearly emphasizes the need for a federal investigation.

He added that It is obvious that the overzealous efforts of some recruiters to meet their quotas are resulting in excesses that must be curbed.

In a letter to Metzenbaum received last week, McNeeley told of being pressured by Marine recruiters into joining and of conditions at boot camp, where he has been since April 3. Training practices caused him and other recruits to inflict self-injuries and for him to seek the help of a psychiatrist, he told Metzenbaum.

His father, a disabled Army veteran of the Korean War, maintained last night that his son was not a coward, that he had been raised with six brothers, three of whom had been in the service—one in Vietnam.

And his family physician, Dr. Antonio Carlos, said that He seems to be a pretty stable kid, but because of what he did, I think he should have been evaluated more.

The Cleveland Press

July 14, 1978

Writer: Gary Pratt and John Funk

McNeeley: They Are Ruining My Sanity

I'm asking for your help to get me out because they are ruining my sanity and future.

In desperate tones, Clevelander Kevin McNeeley described to Senator Howard Metzenbaum how his nerves were unable to cope with his treatment in Marine Corps basic training and how other recruits shared his plight.

The letter to Metzenbaum was postmarked July 5, a week before McNeeley drank some brass cleaner in a drastic effort to secure a discharge. McNeeley, a private, is in serious condition at a Naval hospital in San Diego near the San Diego Marine Corps Recruit Depot, where he was stationed.

McNeeley told Metzenbaum he enlisted in the Marine Corps Reserve a few days after quitting his job as a laboratory technician in March. He said the Navy rejected him because of bad nerves, but the Marine recruiter said not to worry about it.

A Marine recruiter told him they needed a recruit right away and said that if he would join immediately, he would become a contract private first class, he said.

I was still uneasy, but my mother said it would do me good, McNeeley wrote. So I did, with bad nerves and all.

McNeeley explained to Metzenbaum that pressure started to build as expected soon after he arrived in San Diego in April, but he was able to control it for about three weeks.

That's when it got to me, he wrote. "I took my flashlight and pounded my groin area. I was taken out of training and put into the medical rehabilitation platoon.

After being there for five days, the doctor recommended me to see the psychiatrist, but the drill instructors didn't want me to. It got me upset, so I cut my left hand and wrist. So they had the psychiatrist see me.

McNeeley said the psychiatrist told me I wasn't crazy, and I agreed. I told him, ‘This place isn't worth dying for.' But if they want to ruin my future, if [they] haven't already, it will be the death of me.

He said he told the psychiatrist he would go back to training if he had to, but he did not want to because he had a fear of doing harm to himself. He remained in the medical rehabilitation platoon, but he said the psychiatrist would not see him again until some medical records arrived from home.

McNeeley said he told a chaplain about the things I've been doing, and he told me to refuse training, for mine and everyone else's safety.

He followed the chaplain's advice, he said, but that led to disciplinary action known as office hours and to the scheduling of a court-martial.

McNeeley told Metzenbaum he did not want to do harm to himself or commit suicide, but I will not serve time for listening to a chaplain who was trying to help me.

And if it's a must I will drink a can of Brasso (brass polisher) to get out, as a few other privates did.

He named four privates whom he said also drank brass cleaner and named three others who had cut their wrists. He said he also had carved words in his