SAN DIEGO - Hero, healer, rat. Navy corpsman Melson J. Bacos has been called them all in the last year. Now he's got a new moniker: "Free man."

His jail time for his role in murdering an Iraqi civilian over, Bacos is trying to put his life and military career back together. But that April day last year in the dusty town of Hamdania when an Iraqi man was dragged from his home, dumped in a hole and shot never is far from his thoughts.

"It will always be a part of my life," the soft-spoken 21-year-old from Franklin, Wis., told The Associated Press.

Bacos gave his first interview since being released from the Camp Pendleton brig last Thursday after serving 10 months for his role in the killing of Hashim Ibrahim Awad.

Seven Marines and Bacos were charged. Bacos was the first to plead guilty. Four other squad members later cut deals with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to lesser charges.

Bacos and the others must testify in upcoming courts-martial against the remaining three, all of whom are charged with murder and could face life in prison.

The lawyer for Bacos did not let him answer questions about Awad's death or the ongoing criminal cases.

Bacos said he was extremely close to the Marines, and testifying against them is hard.

"I am nervous and I have anxiety every time," said Bacos, who has testified at several pretrial hearings. "I understand how they feel if they have some anger toward me, I really do understand. But I also feel that they understand me too, they understand why I did it."

After initially denying any wrongdoing, Bacos admitted he and three others from the squad seized Awad from his home and marched him to a roadside hole, where he was tied up and gagged. Bacos said several squad members opened fire and the squad leader, Sgt. Lawrence Hutchins III, fired several rounds into Awad's head, then Cpl. Trent Thomas fired seven to 10 more rounds into his chest.

Bacos fired an AK-47 machine gun into the air to simulate the sound of a firefight. Afterward, the troops planted a gun and shovel on Awad's body to make it appear he was an insurgent preparing a hole to plant a bomb.

Bacos, who is married with a 2-year-old daughter, pleaded guilty last October to kidnapping and conspiracy charges and was reduced in rank from petty officer 3rd class to recruit. Murder, assault and other charges were dropped and he received a reduced sentence of 12 months. With good behavior credit, he was out two months early.

Sitting aboard "The Alibi," a 37-foot sailboat belonging to his attorney Jeremiah Sullivan III, Bacos reflected on his decision and the reaction to it inside and outside the military.

"People saw both ways," the sailor said. "They saw me as a rat, and they saw me as being courageous for telling the truth. ... I had people in the brig that would come up to me saying 'I would do the same thing.' They were my friends, they knew who I was."

Bacos couldn't have imagined himself in such a situation when he joined the Navy right out of high school in Franklin, his sights set on a job in the nuclear propulsion program, one of the most demanding and academically challenging programs in the military. But he was disqualified after learning he was colorblind and joined the Hospital Corps instead.

Bacos was assigned to Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines and deployed to Iraq in 2004 for the battle of Fallujah. Also in the company on that tour were Thomas, Cpl. Marshall Magincalda and Lance Cpl. Robert Pennington, all co-defendants in the Hamdania case.

Nine members of his company were killed in firefights in Fallujah, and two died in Bacos' arms. The Awad killing happened on Bacos' second tour, when his company was sent to run security patrols in Hamdania.

Bacos said initially it was hard to gain acceptance from the Marines. But after caring for the wounded and participating in combat, he fit in and started to see himself more as a Marine than a sailor.

"It felt good to have Marines look up to me and trust me with their lives," Bacos said. A defining moment came when the Marines started calling him "Doc," a name he said must be earned by any corpsman.

"It still feels good now when guys call me Doc," Bacos said.

Now on a 30-day leave, Bacos is getting reacquainted with his family in Oceanside. Under terms of his pretrial agreement, Bacos does not face a discharge and has at least one year left on his enlistment. He's still assigned to Camp Pendleton, though that likely will change.

Bacos said he is not certain what he'll do with his life but hopes to stay in the medical field.

"I'm living it day by day right now," he said, sipping a can of Mexican beer, one of his first legal drinks.

He turned 21 in the brig.