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A day after desertion charges against Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun shocked his family and shook Utah's Muslim community, a relative calm prevailed at his Marine base and his adopted home.
Mohamad Hassoun, who brought his younger brother to West Jordan from Lebanon, prayed at a mosque Friday. At Camp Lejeune, N.C., the Marine resumed his usual dispatching duties at the base motor pool.
"I haven't sensed any level of surprise or outrage or anything like that," said Maj. Matt Morgan, spokesman for Hassoun's unit, the 4th Marine Expeditionary Force.
But half a world away, in Tripoli, Lebanon, the news that Hassoun had been charged with deserting his post in Iraq devastated Hassoun's parents and extended family, the Marine's cousin told The Tribune.
"They're really upset and worried," said the cousin, who asked not to be named. "He went to America to live and have a better economy. Now this is a tough situation . . . this is bringing depression."
The desertion charge also has unsettled a Lebanese neighborhood known to feud with the Hassoun clan over its American ties.
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Last summer, when Hassoun vanished from his base near Fallujah and then turned up 18 days later in Beirut, "we were despised and called American agents," the cousin said.
Hassoun, 24, was charged with desertion Thursday following a five-month military investigation into his June disappearance. He also was charged with theft and the loss of his 9mm handgun and theft of a unit Humvee.
Following a Dec. 19 to Jan. 5 holiday leave, Hassoun faces hearings under Article 32 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice at Camp Lejeune. If he is sent on to a court-martial and convicted, he could be dishonorably discharged and imprisoned for five years. Each theft charge carries an additional penalty of 10 years in prison, dishonorable discharge and forfeiture of pay.
Marine Capt. Andrew Langlois, Hassoun's former roommate at Camp Lejeune, was surprised by the desertion charge. "We'll just have to wait and see what happens," he said Friday.
Shuaib ud-Din, imam at the Khadeeja Islamic Center in West Valley City, also withheld judgment. "Everything's in the air," he said. "It's not fair to come to any conclusions now."
But when news of Hassoun's purported abduction broke during the summer, the Muslim immigrant had plenty of support on and around his military base.
A friend and former roommate, Henry Lemus, immediately made a T-shirt with the MIA/POW symbol on the back and picture of Hassoun on the front. The photograph had been taken in March at Applebees restaurant near Camp Lejeune as the friends "clowned around" the night before Hassoun was deployed to a second tour in Iraq.
During Hassoun's repatriation in July - Lemus was in Haiti and unable to reunite with his friend - the corporal returned to Applebees, this time with his brother Mohamad. Their dinner was interrupted when a gregarious waitress, who had taken the pictures months earlier, ignored Islamic customs and gave the young Marine a bear hug.
"He was so surprised someone cared that much about him," Brenda, who declined to give her last name, said in July. "I was so happy to see him. I was going to hug him no matter what anybody said. He's a good guy with a good heart. He's a good Marine."
During his tenure with the Marine Corps, Hassoun was promoted three times and received the Navy Achievement Medal, according to Lt. Col. David Lapan.
Hassoun's former sister-in-law Judy Hassoun, who lives in Texas, said earlier that an impoverished childhood in battle-worn Lebanon had made Hassoun want to become a Marine. "I think it was because he grew up under war in his country. He just always loved the American soldier."
Now the young immigrant who enlisted in the Marines months after the 9-11 terrorist attacks faces a possible court-martial for desertion.
While "disappointed," his cousin in Lebanon remains hopeful about Hassoun's fate.
"We have a saying here that even if you're ice in the sunshine, you'll be OK," he said. "Let the law take its course and we'll see what happens."