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War booty collector convicted

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE - A military judge on Thursday found an Air Force officer guilty of illegally shipping a small arsenal of automatic weapons and hundreds of other war souvenirs home from Iraq.

Maj. Gregory McMillion, 44, faces anything from no penalty to loss of rank, pay and benefits, a discharge and a maximum prison term of eight years. The penalty phase of the trial was to continue today. The judge, Col. Ronald Gregory read his verdict following a court-martial without a jury that lasted more than a week.

He found McMillion guilty of violating an order against taking, retaining, storing and transporting war trophies for nonofficial purposes. He also convicted the maintenance officer of failing to turn over captured or abandoned property and conduct unbecoming an officer.

McMillion tried to use his deployment to stock his personal collection of guns and military paraphernalia, prosecutors said.

McMillion's booty included 29 Romanian, East German, Hungarian and Iraqi automatic rifles, a Chinese machine gun, four antique rifles, six rocket-propelled grenade launchers and dozens of magazines, scopes and sights.

There also were several dummy land mines and grenades, 1,183 Iraqi army berets, more than 600 pairs of socks and eight full uniforms.

Other items included a statue looted from an Iraqi museum, 253 bayonets, two antiaircraft gun seats, several empty artillery shells, an Iraqi helmet, a ledger with Arabic writing, a pistol and a flare gun.

McMillion's attorney contended that his client made a "honest mistake" because he and others didn't understand the rules governing war souvenirs.

[Last modified May 20, 2005, 01:05:11]