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 In a case closely watched from Silicon Valley to Washington, D.C., the Marine Corps announced Wednesday that three Marines now face court-martial on charges of hazing a fellow Marine, from Santa Clara, so badly that he shot himself to death in a foxhole in Afghanistan. 
 
 Lance Cpl. Harry Lew's suicide stunned family and friends, who learned the 21-year-old wrote a farewell note to his mother just hours after his fellow Marines punished him for falling asleep on duty in April. 
 
 The military's action will send three of Lew's combat mates to a general court-martial -- the military equivalent to a trial court -- for the extremely unusual charge. Unless the Marines take a plea bargain, they would stand trial in a way similar to the courtroom drama portrayed in "A Few Good Men," when fictional Marines were accused of murdering their combat mate. 
 
 Lew's death has captured the attention of Washington, where his aunt, U.S. Rep. Judy Chu, of Southern California, has held congressional hearings on military suicides since his death on April 3. The Marine Corps also have taken a hard stance in announcing the case, saying repeatedly that it "does not tolerate hazing of any kind." 
 
 The three Marines have yet to face any disciplinary action, and it's unclear what punishment they would face if convicted by a military panel. In the only other similar case in recent years, two Army soldiers received several months in confinement and a third was fined for hazing an Ohio soldier who committed suicide. 
 
 In August, the Marines recommended charges against Lance Cpls. Jacob Jacoby, 21; Carlos Orozco III, 22; and their 26-year-old squad leader, Sgt. Benjamin Johns. 
 
 The Marines then held a tense hearing over several days last month in Hawaii, where the unit was based. Fellow Marines testified that they thought the three accused Marines had gone too far in punishing Lew, The Associated Press reported while covering the hearing. They allegedly kicked Lew in the back, punched and kicked him in the head and forced him to do push-ups, side planks and other exercises in full combat gear before warning him he was going to get his "ass beat." 
 
 The accused Marines defended themselves by saying Lew, a Santa Clara High School graduate just a few months from returning home, had fallen asleep at least four times in 10 days while on watch, an extremely serious offense that in some cases can be punishable by death. 
 
 Lt. Col. Douglas Gardner acted as the judge in the hearing and gave his recommendations to the general of the Marines' brigade, Frederick Padilla, who, acting like a district attorney, filed the charges Friday. The Marines announced the decision Wednesday, without providing further detail on its decision. 
 
 Jacoby faces three counts of assault, one for threatening and one for hazing. Orozco is accused of one count each of assault, cruelty and maltreatment, dereliction and hazing. Johns is accused of dereliction and hazing. 
 
 Neither Lew's family, which includes former Sunnyvale Mayor Dean Chu, nor the military attorneys assigned to defend the accused Marines could be immediately reached for comment late Wednesday. 
 
 No trial date has been set. 
 
 Lew has been described as an avid breakdancer and a happy young man who signed up for the military to "take care of the Taliban." But 10 days before his death, he was transferred to a new unit, where the alleged abuse began. 
 
 Contact Mike Rosenberg at 408-920-5705. ||||| Three Hawaii-based Marines accused of hazing a fellow Marine who later committed suicide in Afghanistan will be tried in a court-martial, the Marine Corps said Wednesday. 
 
 A trial date for Sgt. Benjamin E. Johns, Lance Cpl. Jacob D. Jacoby and Lance Cpl. Carlos Orozco III has not been set. The three are charged with wrongfully humiliating and demeaning 21-year-old Lance Cpl. Harry Lew, who killed himself April 3. 
 
 Jacoby and Orozco have also been charged with assault, and one was charged with cruelty and maltreatment. 
 
 They'll face a general court-martial, which is a forum for the most serious charges in the military justice system. Less serious charges may be addressed in a summary court-martial or a special court-martial. 
 
 Lew, of Santa Clara, Calif., was a nephew of U.S. Rep. Judy Chu of California. 
 
 Brig. Gen. Frederick Padilla, 3rd Marine Division commander, decided the case should go to trial, Lt. Col. Curtis Hill, a spokesman for Marine Corps Forces Pacific, said in an email. 
 
 "The Marine Corps prides itself on holding its members to the highest levels of accountability. The Marine Corps does not tolerate hazing of any kind," Hill said. "When allegations of hazing are made, they are investigated and if substantiated, appropriate corrective action is taken." 
 
 Hill said the Marines would not make anyone involved in the case available for interviews while legal action was pending "to maintain the integrity of the investigative and legal process." 
 
 An Article 32 hearing _ similar to a civilian grand jury hearing _ was held regarding the charges last month. 
 
 The hearing depicted a squad of Marines actively fighting on the front lines while at the same time trying to cope with a habit Lew developed of falling asleep on watch duty. 
 
 Lew fell asleep four times in the 10 days he spent at Patrol Base Gowragi, a remote outpost in Afghanistan. Because Lew's life and the lives of his fellow Marines depended on him being awake and alert, several Marines in his squad grew increasingly frustrated with the dozing. 
 
 Lew's leaders tried various approaches to keep him awake, including taking him off patrols so he could get more rest, according to testimony at the hearing. 
 
 But on Lew's last night, those efforts escalated into alleged acts of violence and humiliation, according to the charges heard. The Marines are accused of punching and kicking him, making him do pushups and pouring sand in his face. 
 
 Commanders in retrospect said Lew's sleeping may have been a symptom that he was suffering from depression or some other medical condition. 
 
 Chu said in a statement in August that her nephew was a patriotic American, and that no one deserves being "hazed and tortured like he was." She said the military justice system must hold any wrongdoers accountable. 
 
 Hill stressed the Marines are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
– Three Marines accused of hazing a fellow Marine so harshly that he committed suicide are to be court-martialed, the Marine Corps says. Harry Lew, a 21-year-old from Hawaii, shot himself in a foxhole in Afghanistan earlier this year after he was allegedly attacked and humiliated by the trio. The three Marines face charges including hazing, assault, cruelty and maltreatment, and dereliction, the San Jose Mercury News reports. At a hearing last month, Marines from the same unit testified that the three accused punched and kicked Lew, forced him to do push-ups and other exercises in full combat gear, and poured sand in his face. The accused Marines argued that they were angry with Lew because he had fallen asleep on guard duty at a remote base in Afghanistan four times in 10 days, endangering the unit. After Lew's death commanders said that the sleeping may have been a sign that he was suffering from depression or some other medical condition, AP notes.