mcrd refused to bolt down soda machines : marine killed 8 months after bottler was denied access to recruit depot

A soft-
Down on a 19-year-
The old Marines in San Diego were not tied down in last July because
Eight months ago, rank officials at the Marine Corps boot base refused to do so, and The Times learned from documents obtained through the United StatesS.
Freedom of Information Act.
Although an investigation report appears to blame the victim who has been drinking, the report also shows that before the Marines tip the vending machine, officials at the base have realized the deaths of nearly two years.
Two vending machines
In 1986, the Marine Corps was injured in the warehouse. A year later, the Navy began to shut down the machine nationwide.
During this period, naval and naval publications also issued warnings on the issue.
Nevertheless, the safety committee of the recruits warehouse discussed and then abandoned the idea of fixing the machine down in November 1986 for fear of damage of 1920
According to a survey of 1st Lt by the Marine Corps, the era building of the baseMark J.
Griffith concluded.
Griffith\'s report said that at the end of 1987, eight months before the fatal accident, \"an unknown individual or individual\" refused to allow the workers of the vending company to fix the machine.
Representative of Pepsi Bottling Company
Buildings in San Diego were rejected, \"because the historical value of these buildings prevents them from securing any type of permanent Bolt or bolt on the floor or wall, according to a statement given to the investigator by LtJohn T.
Wolfe, assistant merchandise manager, Marine Corps exchange systems, MCRD.
Although the interior of the building has been updated to offices with carpets, ceiling tiles and other changes since 1921, this decision has been made.
Griffith said in his report that the long time since the denial left him unable to determine who was responsible for the decision not to install the machine.
Disciplinary action, he wrote, was \"without reason or consideration \".
However, even a week after the fatal accident, the facility department of the warehouse again refused permission to install the machine, and major general said that it was approved only after the commander was informed by the investigators that it had refused
Public Affairs Officer at the warehouse, Jerry brokert.
In July 31, 1988, nearly two years after the base Security Council first rejected the idea of ensuring machine safety, Pvt. Michael R.
Carlson moaning in halfton soft-
Beverage machine in MCRD entertainment room.
After he tilted the machine forward to coax something soft, it fell on himdrink can.
Two hours later, Carlson died on the operating table at the San Diego Navy hospital.
According to the accident investigation, a liver tear caused a lot of bleeding.
The accident put Carlson on the list, and many of them are soldiers, who have been crushed by falling machines over the past few years. A U. S.
Army doctors reported 47 accidents at overseas bases since 1985, 11 of them dead.
In the United States, the Consumer Product Safety board knows that seven people were killed and 10 injured by April 1988, but it believes the numbers are incomplete. Teen-
Teenagers and college students are other possible victims.
A year ago, a 15-year-
A machine at the Paloma community college fell on him, and the old boy broke his legs.
The commission announced on April that Vendo Corp.
Fresno has agreed to amend the soft-
The design seems to have caused a series of drinking machines for accidents.
On February, the minister of the Navy ordered that by the end of the month, all the soft
To prevent tipping, the beverage machine on Navy property must be protected.
However, even before this order, the Navy and the Marine Corps were already aware of problems across the country.
The Naval Security Center warned the issue in a 1986 publication.
On November 1987, the San Diego Navy Command issued a notice that due to similar incidents at the national military base, the Naval Exchange Service ordered the protection of all soda machines.
The exchange manages food and other retail services for the Navy, but not for the Navy.
The ad\'s investigation into the death of Carlson highlighted that the information on November about ensuring the safety of these machines came from the commander of the San Diego Naval Base, whose message was \"no control over the Marine Corps recruits warehouse \".
\"The Marines are under a separate command structure with the rest of the Navy.
Broeckert, a warehouse public affairs officer, said that this information was received by the commander\'s office of the MCRD and was treated as information and sent to all commanders and staff.
When asked why no action was taken to address known security issues, Broeckert said, \"A lot of the time, it takes a tragedy before things happen.
\"He denies that the basic concerns of the communiqué have been ignored because this information is not binding on the Marine Corps, or there is a lack of urgency on the issue.
\"We taught two things from the beginning: completing the mission and the security of the troops,\" Broeckert said . \".
However, when the contractor who provided soda machines for the San Diego Naval Base and the MCRD tried to solve the safety problem, it got nothing.
Pepsi Bottling is authorized by the command of the San Diego Navy commander.
According to the survey report, workers were sent to the recruitment warehouse at the end of November or early December 1987 to ensure the safety of the machine.
The report said the workers were shut out by unidentified maritime officials for fear of destroying the historical value of the buildings.
While it is clear now that property losses have too much impact on security, base officials are just trying to protect federal property, Broeckert said.
He compared it to the homeowner\'s reaction to the drill bit prepared to fix the cooler on the kitchen floor if the supplier of the household water dispenser popped up.
\"You may ask some questions.
\"This may be the process that is happening here,\" Broeckert said . \".
\"Obviously, this is not the right answer because we have done it since then. . .
Based on security considerations.
George Kordela said that the original MCRD building was built in 1921 and was designed by the same architect Bertram good, who designed many unique buildings in Balboa Park, the director of the MCRD Command Museum.
He said that followed by the Second World War, the structure of the building was not very important, followed by other buildings.
But in many cases, to match the original style, try to get the mustard in the warehouse
The colorful building is a unique, unified look of red tiled roofs, decorative arches and stone decorations.
California historian Dorene Clement says federal law requires military facilities to consult with state authorities when planning to modify the historical features that affect buildings.
However, she said that if there has been a wide range of changes in the interior of a building, then further changes will not affect its historical features.
The investigation found that within two weeks of the accident that caused the death of Carlson, Pepsi again proposed to fix the MCRD machine.
\"Pepsi\'s proposal to fix the machine on the deck and/or partition plate should be accepted,\" the report said . \".
Broeckert said that within two months after the facility Department refused permission again, all the machines were tied down after Carlson\'s death.
The anchor was done at the command of the general at that time, major. Gen.
Donald Fulham, he said.
The investigation report\'s description of the Carlson accident depicts a picture of a troubled, homesick young Marine who was fired within a month for adjusting the problem.
Witnesses said it was Carlson of ishpenming, Michigan.
When he was killed on Sunday, he drank too much at a picnic camp on Pendleton beach.
Other Marines had to put him in his berth after arriving at MCRD around 7: 30. m.
The report said.
Carlson took a nap for about an hour and then asked a friend to go with him to the bowling alley in the warehouse to buy a pack of cigarettes.
It was the last time Carlson saw him until he was awakened by a huge crash. John G.
Zilbert sleeps on the sofa in the West lounge of building 2.
It\'s about 8: 40. m.
Zilbert saw the soft-
The beverage machine fell.
Zilbert and two Marines who passed by the room rushed over to help.
\"I jumped up and turned around and saw someone apparently pulling the Pepsi machine over and it fell on him,\" Zilbert told the Navy investigator . \". \" . . .
I can see his chest from his shoulder and it is not under the machine.
He said he couldn\'t breathe and in order for us to turn it off and the machine off he was injured and the Machine took his money.
When we lifted the machine from him, he repeated it several times. . .
Waiting for an ambulance.
Witnesses said: \"30 minutes later, Carlson, at the Naval Hospital in Balboa Park, was still conscious, speaking, but complained about severe abdominal pain.
Within minutes, however, the doctor had to start CPR, giving him seven pints of blood because of internal bleeding.
48 minutes after arriving at the hospital, he was taken to the operating room and died 36 minutes later.
Prior to the accident, the Marine Corps at the warehouse told the accident investigator that it had become common sense in the warehouse that if the machine was tilted and shaken, one could receive soft drinks without paying.
This is also used as a solution when coins are inserted, but the machine does not allocate soda.
It was this feature of the 111,000 Vendo machines manufactured between 1982 and 1985 that led to the action of the Consumer Product Safety Board in April.
Nationwide, the machines will be equipped with a plastic device inside, making it impossible to have free soda water.
Warning stickers should also be placed outside the machine.
At MCRD, all the machines are tied to the floor, but they do not have a safety label.
At the time of the accident, some doctors in the San Diego County trauma hospital system expressed concern that if Carlson was taken to a civilian trauma hospital for special first aid care, his life might be saved.
The trauma centers at UC San Diego Medical Center, Charity Hospital and Medical Center are closer to the naval base than naval hospitals.
However, Carlson\'s injury was so severe that his chances of survival at the trauma center would only be a little better.
Steven Shackford, director of trauma center, UCSD Medical Center.
Clindamycin Phosphate for Injection Shaq, a former naval surgeon, said he had reviewed the medical details of the Carlson case at the Navy\'s request.
At present, the wounded San Diego military personnel go to the Navy hospital unless an accident occurs outside the base.
However, Marines seriously injured at Camp Pendleton are often flown to the San Diego trauma unit instead of the Navy Hospital, Shaq Clindamycin Phosphate for Injection said.