If the trial proceeds as planned<\/a>, a jury of his peers \u2014 likely troops from the South Carolina Marine base and the Eastern Recruiting Region, according to Vokey \u2014 will weigh the facts that come to light and determine whether Smiley was \u00adresponsible for the recruit\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBut whether Beals died from his senior drill instructor\u2019s alleged malfeasance, as prosecutors contend, or from an unpreventable heart issue, as the defense team argues, a sad truth remains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A young man who \u2014 like every recruit or service member who dies \u2014 was more than just a statistic, more than just his role in the military, is gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And those who loved him are still \u00adcoping with what that means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Gentle giant\u2019<\/b><\/h4>\n\n\n\n Growing up in New Jersey with two older sisters, the easygoing Dalton Beals was described as a \u201cgentle giant\u201d by his family and friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well-liked by his teachers, Beals worked hard in school, even taking classes at a local community college while in high school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The sometimes-quiet teen found a passion in sports, from wrestling to football.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He played tight end and defensive line for the school\u2019s football team under coach Mike Healy, who described Beals to \u00adMarine Corps Times as \u201cone of the \u00adhardest workers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe never ever gave up or quit on a drill, on a play or anything,\u201d Healy said, adding that since Beals\u2019 death the young man\u2019s jersey number, 81, is given out in honor of him to a dependable player who puts the team first on and off the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPfc. Dalton Beals, pictured here with his mother, Stacie, died June 4, 2021, during the final stage of boot camp at Parris Island, South Carolina. (Stacie Beals)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nA bit of a prankster, Beals every so \u00adoften surprised his mother by jumping out of nowhere, then belly-laughing \u00adheartily. But Stacie Beals was most surprised when she learned her son was interested in joining the military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inspired in part by connections who served in the Marine Corps, and drawn to the challenge the service presented, Dalton Beals signed up for boot camp in February 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He shipped off to South Carolina, where he was assigned to Parris Island\u2019s \u00adCompany E, Platoon 2040, and began training on March 30, 2021, according to a Marine Corps investigation later conducted by the command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The island is located on the Atlantic coast and surrounded by swampy creeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In April 1956, a drill instructor led his recruits on a disciplinary hike into one of them, Ribbon Creek, by night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Six recruits drowned, and the drill \u00adinstructor was convicted of negligent \u00adhomicide after a sensational trial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Ribbon Creek incident is still taught to drill instructors as a cautionary tale, The Washington Post reported in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Beals\u2019 first few weeks of boot camp, the weather was still temperate. In letters home, the recruit\u2019s few complaints \u00adcentered on the humidity and sand fleas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stacie Beals found herself racing to the mailbox to read letters from her son each week, which often were brief but \u00addescribed his experience at boot camp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She worried if he was making friends, but he detailed for her and his sisters the quality of food, grumbled about his clunky \u00admilitary-issued eyeglasses and reported he did not find many of the physical requirements to be as tough as he imagined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Behind the drill instructor<\/b><\/h4>\n\n\n\n Steve Smiley, 35, grew up in Clarkston, Michigan, a Detroit suburb, according to his mother, Melody Smiley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like Beals, and perhaps like many of the young men who are drawn to the physical challenges of the Marine Corps, he played football and wrestled in high school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smiley enlisted in the Corps because he wanted to be a part of something bigger than himself and provide for his family, his mother said. He was determined to join the best of the branches, and that seemed to him to be the Marine Corps, even though most of the veterans in his family had served in the Army, according to Melody Smiley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He ended up as a firefighter, with the goal of serving in a civilian fire department upon his retirement, Melody Smiley said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a lance corporal, he was selected to be on the all-Marine wrestling team, according to a 2011 Marine Corps news release. At the time, his coach, then-Maj. Dan Hicks, described Smiley as mentally tough and a hard worker.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe is one person I know I can give a beating to and he will keep coming back for more,\u201d Hicks said in the 2011 release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Steve Smiley\u2019s loved ones portrayed him as an outgoing guy, dedicated to his friends and family, including his wife and two children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI know that I can always count on him to be there in both the good times and the more difficult ones,\u201d Jay Brimacombe, who has been friends with Steve \u00adSmiley since fifth grade, said in an emailed \u00adstatement.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSteve Smiley, pictured here with his wife, started his Marine career as a firefighter. (Melody Smiley)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhen Brimacombe was stuck in a boat that had stopped working in the middle of a lake, Steve Smiley went out in a little boat to drag him back to shore, Melody Smiley said. When a relative\u2019s car broke down, he drove for two hours to pick him up, she said. When his younger cousins are struggling financially, he finds a way to get some extra cash into their hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe\u2019s not this big, scary drill instructor,\u201d Melody Smiley said. \u201cHe\u2019s a family man.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The staff sergeant\u2019s military decorations include the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Global War on Terrorism \u00adMedal, National Defense Service Medal and Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation, according to Marine spokesman Maj. Philip Kulczewski.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHis love for the Marine Corps hasn\u2019t waned one bit, as remarkable as that may sound,\u201d said Vokey, Smiley\u2019s civilian lawyer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Into the Crucible<\/b><\/h4>\n\n\n\n As spring wore on in South Carolina in 2021, temperatures regularly rose into the 80s and sometimes above 90 degrees Fahrenheit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the middle of Dalton Beals\u2019 training cycle, Steve Smiley became his senior drill instructor after a personnel shakeup in the company, in which at least one instructor was suspended, according to the command investigation. The command investigation doesn\u2019t specify the cause of that suspension but does indicate that it stemmed from \u201can investigation related to events occurring during the prior training cycle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before then, Smiley had served as a drill instructor for three training cycles, according to the command investigation, which was completed September 2021. Stacie Beals said she received it around December 2021, and Marine Corps Times obtained it in July 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Superiors who evaluated Smiley after previous training cycles gave him mixed reviews, with some describing him as a \u201cphenomenal asset\u201d but others saying he had trouble teaching information rather than just enforcing discipline, according to the command investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Apparently because of the last-minute nature of his assignment, he never went through senior drill \u00adinstructor training, which is designed to \u201censure the Marine understands the proper role of the senior drill instructor and has the appropriate experience, maturity, and temperament necessary to perform the duties as a senior drill instructor,\u201d the investigation noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Marine senior drill instructor is \u00adsupposed to serve as a parental figure, who takes a firm approach to recruits while still being someone they can confide in, one Marine Corps news release states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in surveys during Beals\u2019 boot camp cycle shortly after Smiley became the \u00adsenior drill instructor, some recruits said they felt uncomfortable alerting him if they had medical or other problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe doesn\u2019t listen,\u201d one recruit wrote. \u201cHe just screams go away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The survey results prompted base \u00adofficials to counsel Smiley sometime that spring on how to conduct himself. Some recruits reported that he improved \u00adsomewhat after that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In June 2021, after nine weeks of \u00adtraining, Beals and the rest of Echo Company embarked on the culmination of \u00adMarine boot camp: the Crucible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First introduced in 1996 at the behest of then-Commandant Gen. Charles \u00adKrulak, according to an official history of the South Carolina base, the Crucible is a 54-hour capstone training event involving multiple physically demanding activities and approximately 40 miles of hiking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Teams of recruits work together to complete the exhausting Crucible, with limited food and sleep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The toughness is the point, as the Corps readily admits. Through the pressure of the Crucible, the theory goes, Marines are formed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And if temperatures creep into the 90s at the South Carolina depot, as they did the day Beals died, drill instructors are required by Marine orders governing the Crucible to monitor their recruits closely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The redacted copy of the investigation written by the command, which conducted dozens of interviews, found that an instructor \u2014 whose name was withheld but who likely was Smiley based on the charges he faces \u2014 failed to follow those instructions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the Crucible, even as temperatures soared to what the Marine Corps terms black-flag conditions, the drill \u00adinstructor made his recruits perform \u201c\u00adunauthorized,\u201d additional physical activity, the command investigation found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On June 4, Day Two of the Crucible, the recruits still had to complete an event \u00adinvolving four miles of marching on foot, in Kevlar helmets and gloves, according to the command investigation. Two \u00adrecruits fell out of the hike, prompting a pause in the hike as corpsmen, enlisted medical personnel, tended to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the hike continued, Beals became hunched over and wobbly, other Marine recruits told investigators. At one point, the recruits saw him wander off in search of water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because two other recruits were \u00adgetting medical treatment for \u00adoverheating, there was some confusion about whether Beals was one of them, according to the investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When one recruit asked a drill instructor, whose name was redacted in the command investigation, whether Beals was getting treated, the drill instructor brushed the recruit off, allegedly saying, \u201cGet out of my face,\u201d the investigation states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For more than an hour, Beals went unaccounted for, according to the investigation. When it became clear that he was missing, the unnamed drill instructor at first asked whether Beals was part of the group and \u201cseemed mad at first,\u201d but \u201cthen appeared worried,\u201d a recruit told investigators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it was too late. By the time Beals was found in the woods, he had no pulse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following his death, Marine officials determined that Beals had earned the title of Marine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Stacie Beals got a call after \u00admidnight on June 5, 2021, there was \u00adlittle the Marine Corps told her about her son\u2019s death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNever in a million years would I have thought I\u2019d be getting that knock like I did,\u201d she said, adding she could not imagine what had happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe easygoing Dalton Beals was described as a \u201cgentle giant\u201d by his family and friends. (Stacie Beals)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe first time she saw a photo of her son in his uniform was in media reports about his death, she noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Beals family still decided to go to the graduation ceremony a few weeks later and meet with their son\u2019s fellow platoon members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was not until months later, Stacie Beals said, that she received the investigative report from the Marine Corps \u00addetailing what allegedly unfolded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The report stated that an initial autopsy had determined Dalton Beals had died from overheating, which the command investigation called \u201clikely preventable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some media outlets drew comparisons to the death of Pvt. Raheel Siddiqui, a Muslim Marine recruit who died in an apparent suicide in 2016 after being hazed by his drill instructor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The command investigation into \u00adDalton Beals\u2019 death called for legal or administrative action against the unnamed senior drill instructor, and administrative action against two commanders. Two commanders were subject to individual boards of inquiry, Kulczewski, the base spokesman, confirmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The investigation concluded that while Smiley technically was qualified for the senior drill instructor role, \u201che did not have the maturity, temperament, and leadership skills\u201d necessary for the role, based on his superiors\u2019 evaluations from previous training cycles and interviews with recruits in Beals\u2019 company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In November 2022, Smiley was charged with negligent homicide; obstruction of justice; cruelty, oppression or maltreatment of subordinates; and failure to obey orders, a charge with four specifications, or descriptions of the alleged offense, according to his charge sheets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Negligent homicide is defined as the killing of another person by \u201can absence of due care\u201d for others\u2019 safety, according to the manual for courts-martial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The charge sheets, obtained by Marine Corps Times via public records request, contain extensive redactions that obscure specifics of the allegations against Smiley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vokey denied to Marine Corps Times that Smiley had violated orders or \u00admistreated recruits. The lawyer, who is a Marine veteran, argued the main \u00adwitnesses to the alleged mistreatment described in the command investigation were \u00adrecruits at the time and lacked a frame of reference for how things should be \u00adconducted in the Marine Corps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think we will know at trial a lot better when we get those recruits on the stand and are able to question (them) thoroughly about their opinions,\u201d Vokey said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u2018He\u2019s a family man,\u201d Steve Smiley\u2019s mom said about the Marine, pictured here with his son. (Melody Smiley)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nIn a query to Kulczewski, Marine Corps Times sought comment from the prosecution but did not receive a response from the spokesman to that \u00adaspect of the query.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not all of the recommendations in the command investigation involved \u00adpunishment for those who allegedly failed to take action that could have prevented Beals\u2019 death. Some of them urged the \u00adMarine Corps to tweak the way it \u00adconducts recruit training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The investigation report suggested changes to how the Crucible, \u00adtechnically an essential activity permitted even in black-flag conditions, is conducted in high temperatures. Corpsmen should be required to check every recruit for signs of heat injury, the report stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recruits shouldn\u2019t face a stigma when they ask for medical treatment, investigators stressed. The day he died, Beals \u00adrefused to sit down and insisted he was just tired, even though other recruits \u00adnoticed he was struggling, according to the command investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And all senior drill instructors, absent extraordinary circumstances, should have to go through the training course to prepare them for the role, rather than \u00adbeing thrown into it like Smiley, according to the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Training and Education Command didn\u2019t respond by publication to a \u00adrequest for comment about whether it has \u00adimplemented these recommendations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A delayed trial<\/b><\/h4>\n\n\n\n Smiley\u2019s three-week trial before a \u00adgeneral court-martial, which tries service members for the most serious crimes, \u00adtentatively was scheduled to begin April 24, Kulczewski said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then new evidence came to light, prompting military judge Marine Col. Adam Workman to delay the trial, first by nearly two months and later an additional month, to give lawyers more time to review the evidence and hash out the legal issues it raises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One reason for the delay was that the prosecution became aware of a Naval Safety Center investigation on Feb. 1. Litigation over whether the investigation could be used as evidence has since been resolved, with the judge determining that it couldn\u2019t be used, according to Vokey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another reason for the delay: the \u00adrevelation that a medical examiner had conducted a second autopsy of Beals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first one, conducted by the \u00adBeaufort County Coroner\u2019s Office in South Carolina, determined Beals died from \u00adhyperthermia, or overheating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in the professional opinion of Dr. Gerald Feigin, who conducted that autopsy at the request of Stacie Beals, Dalton Beals died from a severe, unpreventable cardiac issue, not hyperthermia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Feigin told Marine Corps Times in April that the pathologist who conducted the previous autopsy had examined only about half of Beals\u2019 heart. An employee with that coroner\u2019s office told Marine Corps Times the office can\u2019t comment on or publicly release autopsy reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI find it reprehensible that anyone is charged with a crime in this case,\u201d \u00adFeigin emailed the defense team in March, \u00adaccording to a copy of that email in court documents.<\/p>\n\n\n\t