FILE - In this Jan. 4, 2005 file photo, the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) steams off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia while conducting humanitarian assistance, Eight sailors have been discharged from the Navy after video surfaced of a hazing incident aboard, the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6), a San Diego-based amphibious assault ship that included the choking of a fellow sailor, a Navy spokesman said Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-e, File)
FILE - In this Jan. 4, 2005 file photo, the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) steams off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia while conducting humanitarian assistance, Eight sailors have been discharged from the Navy after video surfaced of a hazing incident aboard, the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6), a San Diego-based amphibious assault ship that included the choking of a fellow sailor, a Navy spokesman said Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-e, File)
SAN DIEGO (AP) ? Eight sailors have been discharged from the Navy after video surfaced of a hazing incident aboard a San Diego-based amphibious assault ship that included the choking of a fellow sailor, a Navy spokesman said Saturday.
The eight received general discharges following allegations they assaulted and choked the sailor aboard the ship, the Bonhomme Richard, as part of a rite to initiate the sailor into a new department, said Lt. Commander David McKinney.
McKinney said the assault, which took place Jan. 17 in the ship's berthing area, was videotaped, and the victim treated for injuries. He did not specify what the injuries were.
The sailors made statements to investigators that amounted to confessions, McKinney said. They called the incident just roughhousing but it was definitely hazing, he said.
"When an incident like this happens, it's got to be taken care of," McKinney said. "It goes contrary to our core values."
The sailors could have appealed their captain's discharge decision, but none have done so, McKinney said.
The eight were from the junior ranks, working the flight deck along with other general duties, according to the Los Angeles Times, which first reported on the incident.
The Navy did not release the names of the discharged sailors or the victim.
The action follows recent congressional hearings on hazing in the military, including the case of Lance Cpl. Harry Lew, who shot himself in a foxhole in Afghanistan last year after he was beaten, forced to do repeated push-ups and fed mouthfuls of sand.
Associated Press
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