13 WTHR IndianapolisCourts-martial recommended for Indiana soldier

Courts-martial recommended for Indiana soldier

Posted: Updated:
NEW YORK -

U.S. military investigators have recommended two soldiers be court-martialed in the death of a fellow infantryman from New York City who shot himself in a guard tower in southern Afghanistan.

25-year-old sergeant Travis F. Carden from Fowler, Indiana and a 25-year-old first lieutenant from Maryland are among eight soldiers charged in the death of 19-year-old Danny Chen. The two soldiers were recommended for courts-martial following a pretrial hearing at Kandahar Air Field on Sunday.

Chen's relatives say he was brutally hazed during training because he was Chinese-American. They say investigators told them he was subjected to racial slurs and forced to do excessive sit-ups, push-ups and sprints carrying sandbags.

He was found dead in October.

The first lieutenant and the sergeant each face various criminal charges in his death.

(Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)