Army Pvt. Danny Chen.

An officer reviewing charges against eight soldiers in connection with the death of a Chinese-American Army private, who apparently took his life after being hazed and abused, has recommended dropping the most serious charge -- involuntary manslaughter.

The investigating officer recommended that seven soldiers be court-martialed on multiple charges in connection with the death of Pvt. Danny Chen, 19, who died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound on Oct. 3 in Afghanistan, the Army said Tuesday. The Article 32 hearings, which determine if there is enough evidence for a court-martial, are being held at Kandahar Air Field in Afghanistan.

The most recent four infantrymen to go through those hearings had been facing charges that included involuntary manslaughter and negligent homicide, thought to be the first time such charges have been brought in this type of case, according to experts on hazing and on the military legal system.

But involuntary manslaughter was not among the charges recommended against Staff Sgt. Andrew VanBockel, Sgts. Jeffrey Hurst and Adam Holcomb and Spc. Thomas Curtis -- mirroring the outcome of the first Article 32 hearing for Spc. Ryan Offutt, which ended on Jan. 22.

"If the investigating officer determines that there was not sufficient evidence to support the elements of the charge, then the investigating officer may recommend not moving forward with that charge," said Sgt. 1^st Class Alan G. Davis, an Army spokesman. 

The maximum punishment for involuntary manslaughter is 10 years in prison and a dishonorable discharge; for negligent homicide it three years imprisonment and a dishonorable discharge.

The commander of the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, will consider the investigating officer's recommendations in determining whether to forward the charges to the Combined Joint Task Force-82 Commander for final disposition, Davis said.

A lawyer and former member of the U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps has previously noted that the officer's recommendations were simply that -- a recommendation -- that could be accepted or ignored.

Courtesy of the Chen family

Pvt. Danny Chen, left, with his mother, Su Zhen Chen, at his graduation from basic training.

Chen was found dead at a guard tower with his rifle lying next to him at Combat Outpost Palace in the Panjwa'i district of Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan.

Almost immediately after he arrived in mid-August, Chen, the only Chinese-American in his platoon, was required to do exercises that crossed over to alleged abuse, according to investigators from the Regional Command-South, said Elizabeth OuYang, New York branch president of OCA, a national civil rights organization serving Asian Pacific Americans.

Some of it was inflicted by one soldier and some by a group, according to OuYang, who was briefed on the investigation. Investigators also found evidence that the platoon sergeant and the platoon leader -- the top two officers in the unit -- were aware of an attack on Chen on Sept. 27 and chose not to report it, OuYang said.

The family and Chinese-American community have asked that Chen's comrades face the involuntary manslaughter charges and want the courts-martial to be held in the United States, citing the need for access, transparency and accountability. OuYang said they were disappointed with the officer not recommending the involuntary manslaughter charge.

"We have not been able to see any of the evidence in these eight pre-trials," she said. "We don’t know why we’re in the dark ... as to why the involuntary manslaughter charges was dropped. That’s why it’s imperative that we must have access to the court-martials so we can see the evidence in this case.”

The investigating officer has recommended the following charges be forwarded to court-martial:

-- For VanBockel: two counts of violation of a general regulation; three counts of dereliction of duty; two counts of maltreatment; one count of negligent homicide; and one count of reckless endangerment.

-- For Hurst: two counts violation of a general regulation; two counts of dereliction of duty; one count of maltreatment; one count of negligent homicide; and one count of reckless endangerment.

-- For Holcomb: three counts of violation of a general regulation; two counts of dereliction of duty; two counts of maltreatment; one count of assault; one count of negligent homicide; one count of reckless endangerment; and one count of communicating a threat.

-- For Curtis: two counts of violation of a general regulation; one count of dereliction of duty; six counts of maltreatment; four counts of assault; one count of negligent homicide; and one count of reckless endangerment.

-- For Lt. Daniel Schwartz, 25, of Maryland: eight counts of dereliction of duty.

-- For Offutt: two counts of violation of a lawful general regulation; four counts of maltreatment; one count of manslaughter; three counts of assault consummated by battery; one count of negligent homicide; and one count of reckless endangerment.

The investigating officer has yet to issue a court-martial recommendation for Sgt. Travis Carden, 25, of Fowler, Ind. His hearing is scheduled for April 4-5 at Kandahar Air Field, the Army said. The charges against him are: two counts of violation of a lawful general regulation;  two counts of maltreatment; one count of assault; and one count of reckless endangerment.

The Article 32 for the remaining soldier, Staff Sgt. Blaine Dugas, 35, of Texas, began Feb. 19 and is ongoing. He is charged with one count of violation of a lawful general order; two counts of dereliction of duty; and one count of mking a false official statement.

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• Experts: Harshest charges in Asian-American GI's death may not stick
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Shah Marai / AFP - Getty Images

Afghans shout anti-American slogans during a protest in Kabul on Thursday.

Updated at 9:50 a.m. ET: KABUL, Afghanistan -- President Barack Obama has written a letter to his Afghan counterpart apologizing for the burning of copies of the Quran at a NATO military base in the country. Two U.S. soldiers were also shot dead Thursday at a protest about the desecration of the holy books.

A man wearing an Afghan government soldier's uniform killed the American troops and wounded four others at the demonstration in Nangarhar province, officials told NBC News.

There have been violent protests daily since it emerged on Tuesday that Qurans used by detainees held at the Bagram military base had been burned. The incident has become a public relations disaster for foreign forces in Afghanistan.

A statement from President Hamid Karzai's office said the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan had delivered the letter from Obama Thursday.

Taliban to Afghans: Kill foreigners over Quran burnings

In the letter, which is quoted in the statement, the U.S. president expressed his "deep regret for the reported incident" and offered his "sincere apologies."

According to the statement, Obama wrote: "The error was inadvertent; I assure you that we will take the appropriate steps to avoid any recurrence, to include holding accountable those responsible."

Slideshow: Protests erupt over Quran burning

Massoud Hossaini / AFP - Getty Images

Angry afghans attacked U.S. bases after reports of Quran desecration.

Launch slideshow

Tommy Vietor, a spokesman for the National Security Council, told NBC News that Obama had "expressed our regret and apologies over the incident in which religious materials were unintentionally mishandled at Bagram air base."

The Quran burnings at the vast Bagram base could make it even more difficult for U.S.-led NATO forces to win the hearts and minds of Afghans and bring the Taliban to the negotiating table ahead of the withdrawal of foreign combat troops by the end of 2014.

Muslims consider the Quran the literal word of God and treat each book with deep reverence. Desecration is considered one of the worst forms of blasphemy.

NBC's Afghanistan correspondent discusses the Quran controversy

General John Allen, commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), on Tuesday offered his "sincere apologies" for the burnings. "When we learned of these actions, we immediately intervened and stopped them," he added. "This was not intentional in any way." 

The deadly protest in Nangarhar was one of several across the country on Thursday.

According to Haji Mohammad Hassan, the deputy police of Khogayani district in Nangarhar province, American soldiers had starting firing at protesters who were attacking their base.

He said that an Afghan soldier then turned his weapon on the U.S. troops, shooting six, killing two and injuring four.

PhotoBlog: 'Death to America!' Afghan anger over Quran burning intensifies

Hassan said the Afghan soldier escaped by joining the crowd of protesters. However, a provincial official, who asked not to be named, said the shooter had been killed after the attack.

The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the attack, NBC News reported. 

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a text message that they infiltrated the army with one of their fighters who had shot and killed the Americans. Mujahid claimed that their insurgent killed 10 Americans.

More from msnbc.com and NBC News:

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The Associated Press, Reuters, NBC News' Atia Abawi, Chuck Todd and Kristen Welker contributed to this report.

Yves Logghe / AP

Nurse Augusta Chiwy, left, talks with author and military historian Martin King moments before receiving an award for valor from the U.S. Army, in Brussels, Monday. (AP Photo/Yves Logghe)

BRUSSELS, Belgium - A nurse who saved the lives of hundreds of American soldiers during the Battle of the Bulge at the end of World War II was given a U.S. award for valor Monday — 67 years late.

Congolese-born Augusta Chiwy, now 93, received the Civilian Award for Humanitarian Service medal from U.S. Ambassador Howard Gutman at a ceremony in the military museum in Brussels.

"She helped, she helped, and she helped," Gutman said at the ceremony. He said the long delay in presenting the award was because it was assumed that Chiwy had been killed when a bomb destroyed her hospital.

The Battle of the Bulge was a ferocious encounter in the final stages of World War II. In desperation, Adolf Hitler ordered a massive attack on allied forces in the Ardennes, in southern Belgium. More than 80,000 American soldiers were killed, captured or wounded.

Chiwy had volunteered to assist in an aid station in the town of Bastogne, where wounded and dying U.S. soldiers in their thousands were being treated by a single doctor in December 1944 and January 1945. Chiwy braved the gunfire, helping whoever she could, and saving the lives of hundreds of American GIs.

The Nazis hoped the surprise attack would reach the sea at the Belgian port of Antwerp and cut off the advancing allied armies. Bastogne, a market town that was also a critical road junction, was quickly besieged.

The U.S. troops — led by paratroopers of the 101st Airborne Division — found themselves surrounded. But they resisted fiercely, and the key crossroads was never taken.

During the siege, Bastogne was heavily shelled and quickly reduced to ruins. Another Belgian nurse — Chiwy's friend Renee Lemaire — was killed along with about 30 patients when a bomb penetrated a cellar where she was tending to the wounded.

Gutman said the diminutive Chiwy combed battlefields during the battle, often coming under enemy fire, to collect the wounded in the deep snow.

"What I did was very normal," Chiwy said during the ceremony. "I would have done it for anyone. We are all children of God."

But Col. J.P. McGee, who commands a brigade of the 101st Airborne Division based in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, said that to the wounded soldiers Chiwy was "a goddess."

"Men lived and families were reunited due to your efforts," he said.

McGee said the army's doctor in Bastogne, John Prior, had joked that the German snipers couldn't hit Chiwy because she was so tiny. But Chiwy, who moved to Belgium from the colony of Congo before the war, responded that they were just bad shots.

McGee also gave Chiwy a letter of appreciation from Gen. David Petraeus, himself a former commander of the 101st Airborne.

After the battle, Chiwy slipped into obscurity, working as a hospital nurse treating spinal injuries. She married a Belgian soldier and had two children.

She was finally located several years ago by a British author and historian, Martin King, who had heard stories about a black nurse at Bastogne.