COMMANDER STONE (Christopher Guest), in A Few Good Men, was the Commanding Officer of the Naval Hospital, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. And one fine night he handled an emergency case that ultimately cost him his command and his career.Pfc. William T. Santiago USMC first presented himself to the Naval Hospital, and to Dr. Stone, for examination when he fell back on a run. His sergeant and section leader pushed him down the hill. He hit the deck and blacked out, and his section called the ambulance to bring him in. So read the history he got.Santiago tested negative on all the usual indicia of cardio-respiratory function. Stone diagnosed heat exhaustion and recommended restricted duty for one week.Then on the early morning of 7 September 1991, at 0012 hours, Pfc. Santiago was admitted to the Emergency Room suffering from acute pulmonary edema and hemoptysis. All attempts at cardio-respiratory and resuscitative support failed. Santiago was pronounced dead at 0037 hours.At 0300 Dr. Stone issued a preliminary clinical diagnosis: acute pulmonic hemorrhage due to or as a consequence of acute lactic acidosis, cause unknown.And then he had a meeting of the minds with the base CO, Col. Nathan R. Jessup USMC. Dr. Stone refused to disclose or even take any minutes of that meeting. The record shows that at 0500 Dr. Stone issued another report: Cause of death: acute pulmonic hemorrhage, due to or as a consequence of acute lactic acidosis, of a nature suggestive of the introduction per orem of an internal poison, type and nature unknown. Unknown because, Dr. Stone knew, literally dozens of poisons existed that could cause lactic acidosis and disappear without a trace in the bloodstream. The two weakness in the report: all toxicological studies of Pfc. Santiago's serum were uniformly negative. And: no one ordered an autopsy.That morning, L. Cpl. Harold W. Dawson USMC and Pfc. Louden Downey USMC were placed under arrest. Charge: murder in the first degree. Specification: in that, on or before 2359 hours 6 September 1991, the said L. Cpl. Dawson and Pfc. Downey entered the barracks room of Santiago and then and there committed a criminal assault on the said Santiago, which assault must have included gagging him with a cloth soaked in a toxin. Again, no one ever examined the rag. Col. Jessup did not seem to feel that need concern anyone.On 4 October 1991, Dr. Stone gave his evidence in the court-martial of Dawson and Downey, held at the headquarters of the Naval Judge Advocate General's Corps, Washington Navy Yard. The judge advocate, Captain Jack Ross USMC, extracted from Dr. Stone the main evidence in the case: time of admission, time of death, final clinical diagnosis, and a statement of his expert opinion that he could say with complete confidence that Santiago was poisoned. The lead counsel for the defense, Lt. (jg) Daniel A. Kaffee USN, objected that Dr. Stone, as an internist and not a criminologist, was less than qualified to render such an opinion. Still, the judge overruled the defense.Lt. Kaffee drew from Stone an admission that a hypothetical patient having a severe coronary condition, gagged with a stuffing gag shoved too far down, might develop lactic acidosis and resulting hemorrhage, as Santiago had done. Of course, such a patient would show symptoms: fatigue, chest pains, and palpitations. Which Santiago had shown after his fall from the hill. Kaffee then suggested Santiago had such a coronary condition, and that condition, not any uncharacterized poison, had caused the acidosis. Stone repudiated that suggestion, saying he had examined Santiago thoroughly and given him a clean bill of health.And that was when Lt. Kaffee said, That's why it had to be poison. Because, Lord knows, if you told a man with a serious coronary condition to return to duty, and that person died later of a heart-related incident, you would have a lot to answer for. The judge advocate objected, and the court sustained.The judge advocate, on redirect, reiterated Stone's qualifications. In your expert medical opinion, was Pfc. Santiago poisoned? he asked.Kaffee's colleague, Lt. Cdr. JoAnne Galloway USN, then renewed the earlier objection, moved to strike, demanded a conference, and moved for a reconsideration. All to less than no avail. The witness is an expert, and THE COURT WILL HEAR HIS OPINION! said the judge in a literal shout.The judge advocate repeated the question, and Dr. Stone gave his answer: Yes. Everything unraveled three weeks later, when the defense actually called Col. Jessup to the stand. And--incredibly--drew from Col. Jessup an admission--indeed an avowal!--that he, Jessup, had ordered the three men's platoon leader, Lt. Jonathan James Kendrick USMC, to arrange to have Dawson and Downey haze Pfc. Santiago--which is to say, in Marine parlance, to give Santiago a 'Code Red'. The next thing Dr. Stone knew, Col. Jessup and Lt. Kendrick were under arrest. (It might or might not have been significant to Stone that the Marine XO, Lt. Col. Matthew Andrew Markinson USMC, took his own life two days before Col. Jessup testified.)In preparation for the court-martial of Jessup and Kendrick, the judge advocate ordered an autopsy of Santiago. The Armed Forces Institute of Pathology sent its best specialist in cardiovascular disease to do the post-mortem examination, with special attention to the heart. Final Anatomical Diagnosis: Acute pulmonary hemorrhage due to lactic acidosis--and chronic atherosclerotic coronary artery disease.At trial, the judge advocate examined Stone as a hostile witness and forced him to admit: he had fudged the final clinical diagnosis on the orders of Jessup.The Naval Medical Corps reviewed the matter. They issued Dr. Stone a letter of reprimand so frosty it almost gave him freezer burn to handle it. Not long after that, another ranking Navy doctor came to Gitmo to take over the hospital. Stone found himself relieved of his command and drummed out of the Navy in disgrace. Show less «