April 8, 1956. Remorse will never leave him. ... He may be expected to appreciate the feelings of those whose sons were lost that fateful night. His conduct immediately following the loss, and the spontaneous statements he made at the time, speak eloquently of remorse. For all the foregoing reasons, I have determined that the bad conduct discharge should be remitted. Thomas reduced the sentence, remitted the bad conduct discharge, and allowed McKeon to remain in the Corps with the reduced rank of private. Prior to the reduction, his sentence was a $270 fine, nine months of confinement at hard labor, and a bad conduct discharge. The Secretary of the Navy eventually reduced the sentence to three months in the brig and reduction to private, but with no discharge or fine. McKeon then returned to active duty but never regained his former rank and was medically retired in 1959 as a corporal because of a back injury. He then worked as an inspector of standards for his home state of Massachusetts. In a 1970 Newsweek interview, McKeon told of his lifelong burden of guilt and how he prayed every day for God to keep the dead recruits in his safekeeping and for McKeon's own forgiveness. McKeon died on November 11, 2003, at age 79. Published works John C. Stevens researched the night march and subsequent court-martial and wrote a book called Court Martial At Parris Island. He was able to interview many of McKeon's recruits. Stevens pointed out that with one exception, all of them spoke in favorable terms about their former drill instructor. They claimed he was not the sadist portrayed by the prosecution. Marie Costello Inserra, daughter of Thomas P. Costello, became an attorney and was admitted to practice law in New York in 1988 and North Carolina since 2006. She also wrote a book called Counsel for the Accused Marine Corps Drill Sergeant. It is largely based upon the transcripts of the court of inquiry, the trial, her father's diary and conversations with her father. Training changes The incident led to several changes in Marine Corps recruit training, following reforms that had begun in the early 1950s in the wake of the Korean War and the sudden large influx of recruits into the Corps. Recruit Training Commands, commanded by brigadier generals directly appointed by and answering to the commandant, were established at both Parris Island and Marine