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CUMBERLAND, Md. -- Clutching flickering candles in a driving rain, families of soldiers in the embattled 372nd Military Police Company gathered Tuesday to weep, hug each other, and beg the world's media to portray their loved ones as heroes -- not villains -- as the Iraq prisoner abuse scandal unfolds.

Roughly 50 wives and children of Army reservists gathered in the heart of the sleepy Maryland panhandle town as media from as far away as Tokyo and Sydney beamed the teary faces of families to viewers worldwide.

The rally, which organizers hope to repeat every Saturday afternoon until the conflict in Iraq ends, came on the eve of a court-martial scheduled to begin today in Baghdad for Spc. Jeremy C. Sivits, of Hyndman, Bedford County.

Sivits is one of seven members of the 372nd -- based near Cumberland -- charged with abusing Iraqi inmates in the Abu Ghraib prison.

Court-martial arraignments also are scheduled today for Spc. Charles A. Graner Jr., of Uniontown; Sgt. Javal S. Davis, of Roselle, N.J., and Staff Sgt. Ivan L. "Chip" Frederick II, of Buckingham, Va.

The wives of two soldiers who have not been accused of any wrongdoing said members of the 372nd need everyone's support.

"My husband wants me to get the message out that regardless of what happens, they're standing behind this mission and won't let anything bother them," said Tami Ramos, wife of Staff Sgt. Edwin Ramos, a squad leader in the company's 1st Platoon who is escorting convoys through Iraq.

Ramos, herself a soldier awaiting possible deployment to the Middle East, told of MPs in the 372nd sleeping three men to a cell in the Abu Ghraib prison where they labored to guard dangerous insurgents.

She said her husband has sent her four videos, and they revealed MPs trying to keep a sense of humor while working in brutal conditions for more than a year abroad.

"My husband did nothing wrong," said Michele Schultz, wife of Sgt. Jesse Schultz, of Ridgeley, W.Va. "I'm more concerned about what they're going through now. They've been deployed for 15 months, and I don't want to think of anything happening to him. He was just given an award, 'Battalion Hero of the Month,' for helping the people over there, but no one is talking about that. It hurts."

Others at the gathering lashed out at the frenzy of reporters in Cumberland. In his opening benediction, the Rev. Tom Landaker, chaplain of the town's Vietnam Veterans of America chapter, accused "a liberal media" of spreading "poisonous views of our community."

Landaker also asked that members of the 372nd, now in their 13th month overseas, not be ostracized upon their return, as many Vietnam vets were.

"With all the negative worldwide media coverage that the 372nd Military Police Company has received, I pray that these troops do not receive the same treatment when they come home," Landaker said to applause.

Army investigators and prosecutors, however, have said some members of the unit routinely mistreated Iraqi inmates in their care and that the company as a whole suffered from poor discipline, inadequate training and bad leadership.

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