WASHINGTON, Aug 30 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Marine sergeant who led the attack in Haditha, Iraq, last year during which as many as two dozen Iraqi civilians were killed was recommended later by his platoon commander to receive a medal for his heroism that day, a news report said on Wednesday, citing military documents.

    Lt William T. Kallop wrote in a praise-filled memo that the incident on Nov. 19, 2005, was part of a complex insurgent ambush that included a powerful roadside bomb followed by a high volume of automatic-weapons fire from several houses in the neighborhood. He lauded Sgt Frank Wuterich for his leadership in the "counterattack" on three houses while the unit received sporadic enemy fire, according to the report, published by The Washington Post.

    The proposed citation indicated that Kallop - the only Marine officer at the scene as the incident unfolded - believed the unit was under a coordinated insurgent attack when Marines stormed civilian homes and opened fire, killing women and children, the report said.

    Kallop did not explicitly address the civilian deaths in his summary of the incident.

    That the Marines felt threatened and believed the homes to be hostile is a central element of their defense against potential criminal charges. Kallop, who was promoted to first lieutenant in May this year, is one of numerous Marines who are the subject of a Naval Criminal Investigative Service probe into civilian deaths in the Haditha attack, which has alternately been characterized as a vengeful massacre and as the unfortunate collateral damage of war.

    No one has been charged in the case so far.

    The award was approved by the company commander and was sent to battalion and, later, regimental headquarters before being put on hold at the division level, Neal A. Puckett, an attorney for Wuterich, told the newspaper.

    Wuterich has since been promoted to staff sergeant, the report said.

    Puckett provided the documents and the Marine's regular fitness report dated Jan. 19 to the newspaper, saying they support his client's version of events, and show that officers in the unit believe Wuterich and the other Marines did the right thing in the Haditha attack, the report said.

    Early this month, Wuterich filed a lawsuit against an anti-war lawmaker, accusing the congressman of defaming him in public comments on the Haditha case.

    The lawsuit alleged that Wuterich was defamed by Representative Jack Murtha, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, who said in May that investigators would conclude that the Marines "killed innocent civilians in cold blood" in Haditha.

    The deaths in Haditha are among several incidents over the past year in which U.S. soldiers are accused of killing Iraqi civilians. Enditem