Army Reopens Probe Into Soldier's Death
Updated: April 8, 2008 11:47 AM EDT
April 8, 2008 (AP)--The Army has reopened an investigation into the death of an Iowa soldier.
Sgt. James Musack, of Riverside, died in November 2006. The Department of Defense initially said he died of injuries suffered in a non-combat incident north of Baghdad. Army investigators concluded in December that he committed suicide.
His family disputes that finding, and has spent months making their case to elected and military officials.
On Monday, The Gazette received a letter from the Army saying the investigation had been reopened, but no reason was given.
http://www.whotv.com/Global/story.asp?S=8134924
Showing posts with label Baghdad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baghdad. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Sunday, April 6, 2008
I took today off, 5 soldiers died
I didn't post today because my husband and I met some friends at Epcot. It rained most of the day but it was a lot of fun enjoying the day with good friends. I needed it. I spent the time we were gone not thinking about Iraq or Afghanistan, not thinking about the pain and the burdens the soldiers and their families are dealing with and not thinking about the devastation across this nation the wounded veterans are dealing with. The news was shut off at 8:30 am and my PC was shut down at 9:30 am. I am just getting done with the emails to go through and now it dawns on me even more than normal how easy it is to shut out the two occupations, shut out the hurting and shut out the pain so many are going through all across this country.
North, south, east and west, pick a state and you'll find them. You'll find the soldier's wife with a couple of kids trying to survive yet one more deployment wondering how it is she never thought of herself as a single Mom when she became a military wife. You'll find the father who just sent his wife off to Iraq for another deployment and he's left to raise the kids and spend yet one more night wondering if she is safe. You'll find a young solider who planned on spending the rest of his life in the military and joined right out of high school only to have been driving the Humvee that managed to find the IED and now wondering if he will ever be loved, ever find a job and ever find the reason to keep waking up in the morning. You'll find the veteran who noticed that while his body came back in one piece from the combat he lived through, he never really came back all the way. A part of him died there and the part that replaced it, is a stranger to him.
The problem is, you won't find them unless you look for them but they are all around you.
They are the couple of Vietnam veterans that just walked by you at Epcot. One came back fine and the other came back with the ghosts of Vietnam chasing him all these years. They became friends in Vietnam but lost track of each other until one tenacious wife trying to learn more tracked the other one down. That phone call ended up being years before the two veterans would talk on the phone. Another couple of years before they actually saw each other and shared a meal, memories and glances only the two of them understood. They were just two more pals who managed to act as if they see each other all the time because while both went on with their lives, a part of them stayed the same young kids who left their homes for Vietnam.
It's easy to escape what is going on and forget about all of it when we are trying to live our own lives, deal with our own pain, our own problems and seek our own goals. It's too easy to shut the news off, flip the channel or go out and do something fun. It's easy to bypass all the news online and find what we are interested in, delete the update we received because we just don't have time for it.
Life went on here as if nothing important was going on. We lost 5 soldiers today.
04/06/08 LATimes: Five Americans, up to 22 Iraqis killed
Three American soldiers died from rocket attacks in Baghdad today, while fighting between Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr's Mahdi Army militia and U.S.-led forces paralyzed the capital's Sadr City neighborhood and left up to 22 Iraqis dead.
At some point today there was a door bell ringing in five houses today. Five families got the news no military family ever wants to hear, "We regret to inform you" your family member is gone. How many of these soldiers had parents still alive, wives and kids? We'll never know unless we go looking for the news reports to know who these soldiers left behind. We'll never know what kind of dreams they had of how they wanted their lives to be, why they joined or how many people cared for them unless we look to find the reports.
For the families left behind, no one will know what happened to them, if they got on with their lives ok or not.
Rocket attacks ended the stories of five of our soldiers today and I didn't know when I was walking around Epcot thinking about how long it would take standing in line waiting for a ride. I didn't know when I was complaining about the rain and feeling miserable with my feet wet. I didn't know when I was sitting in China and eating with chopsticks. While I was on Space Ship Earth, the ride that accounts how technology has linked the world's people to each other, a family was being torn apart, a unit back in Iraq was grieving the loss of these soldiers and wondering when it would be their turn or how long they had to last one more day, week or month before going home.
We'll never know if they will end up being two long lost friends 30 years from now who can catch up in a moment of time as if they have never been apart. Strange how things work out for some but we'll never know unless we know them.
The problem is most of us will never know any of them. We won't know their stories. We won't know what happened from day to day unless we pay attention. But we live in a nation where it's just too easy to take the time off, shut the news off, shut the two occupations off and act as if nothing was going on at all. Most of us don't know anyone serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. Most of us haven't a clue if someone in our office has a son or a daughter over there or a kid who goes to school with our kids spent another night praying for their parent over there. Most of us won't know because it's too easy to not ask, not wonder, and to not even really care.
Today, as with "play days" with my husband are much needed so that I can do what I do the rest of the week. These are the times I don't think about them over there or what happens when they come home. Rare times for me and so many others across the nation who do invest the time to learn what is going on. Readers of this blog are among those who do care of they wouldn't spend their time reading a blog that is mostly depressing when it comes to the wounds they carry. We are rare though when you think about the blogs and sites that get the most hits. All in all I feel sorry for them because they have spent so much time never knowing any of these men or women or the families. As for me right this moment, I'm getting ready to go to bed and feeling guilty about the time I took for myself today when I didn't think about them or the five we lost today or the families who got the news, someone they love is gone.
Chaplain Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
www.Namguardianangel.org
www.Namguardianangel.blogspot.com
www.Woundedtimes.blogspot.com
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington
North, south, east and west, pick a state and you'll find them. You'll find the soldier's wife with a couple of kids trying to survive yet one more deployment wondering how it is she never thought of herself as a single Mom when she became a military wife. You'll find the father who just sent his wife off to Iraq for another deployment and he's left to raise the kids and spend yet one more night wondering if she is safe. You'll find a young solider who planned on spending the rest of his life in the military and joined right out of high school only to have been driving the Humvee that managed to find the IED and now wondering if he will ever be loved, ever find a job and ever find the reason to keep waking up in the morning. You'll find the veteran who noticed that while his body came back in one piece from the combat he lived through, he never really came back all the way. A part of him died there and the part that replaced it, is a stranger to him.
The problem is, you won't find them unless you look for them but they are all around you.
They are the couple of Vietnam veterans that just walked by you at Epcot. One came back fine and the other came back with the ghosts of Vietnam chasing him all these years. They became friends in Vietnam but lost track of each other until one tenacious wife trying to learn more tracked the other one down. That phone call ended up being years before the two veterans would talk on the phone. Another couple of years before they actually saw each other and shared a meal, memories and glances only the two of them understood. They were just two more pals who managed to act as if they see each other all the time because while both went on with their lives, a part of them stayed the same young kids who left their homes for Vietnam.
It's easy to escape what is going on and forget about all of it when we are trying to live our own lives, deal with our own pain, our own problems and seek our own goals. It's too easy to shut the news off, flip the channel or go out and do something fun. It's easy to bypass all the news online and find what we are interested in, delete the update we received because we just don't have time for it.
Life went on here as if nothing important was going on. We lost 5 soldiers today.
04/06/08 LATimes: Five Americans, up to 22 Iraqis killed
Three American soldiers died from rocket attacks in Baghdad today, while fighting between Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr's Mahdi Army militia and U.S.-led forces paralyzed the capital's Sadr City neighborhood and left up to 22 Iraqis dead.
At some point today there was a door bell ringing in five houses today. Five families got the news no military family ever wants to hear, "We regret to inform you" your family member is gone. How many of these soldiers had parents still alive, wives and kids? We'll never know unless we go looking for the news reports to know who these soldiers left behind. We'll never know what kind of dreams they had of how they wanted their lives to be, why they joined or how many people cared for them unless we look to find the reports.
For the families left behind, no one will know what happened to them, if they got on with their lives ok or not.
Rocket attacks ended the stories of five of our soldiers today and I didn't know when I was walking around Epcot thinking about how long it would take standing in line waiting for a ride. I didn't know when I was complaining about the rain and feeling miserable with my feet wet. I didn't know when I was sitting in China and eating with chopsticks. While I was on Space Ship Earth, the ride that accounts how technology has linked the world's people to each other, a family was being torn apart, a unit back in Iraq was grieving the loss of these soldiers and wondering when it would be their turn or how long they had to last one more day, week or month before going home.
We'll never know if they will end up being two long lost friends 30 years from now who can catch up in a moment of time as if they have never been apart. Strange how things work out for some but we'll never know unless we know them.
The problem is most of us will never know any of them. We won't know their stories. We won't know what happened from day to day unless we pay attention. But we live in a nation where it's just too easy to take the time off, shut the news off, shut the two occupations off and act as if nothing was going on at all. Most of us don't know anyone serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. Most of us haven't a clue if someone in our office has a son or a daughter over there or a kid who goes to school with our kids spent another night praying for their parent over there. Most of us won't know because it's too easy to not ask, not wonder, and to not even really care.
Today, as with "play days" with my husband are much needed so that I can do what I do the rest of the week. These are the times I don't think about them over there or what happens when they come home. Rare times for me and so many others across the nation who do invest the time to learn what is going on. Readers of this blog are among those who do care of they wouldn't spend their time reading a blog that is mostly depressing when it comes to the wounds they carry. We are rare though when you think about the blogs and sites that get the most hits. All in all I feel sorry for them because they have spent so much time never knowing any of these men or women or the families. As for me right this moment, I'm getting ready to go to bed and feeling guilty about the time I took for myself today when I didn't think about them or the five we lost today or the families who got the news, someone they love is gone.
Chaplain Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
www.Namguardianangel.org
www.Namguardianangel.blogspot.com
www.Woundedtimes.blogspot.com
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Army unit working to get blind Iraqi girl eye treatment
“We’ve taken a real vested interest in the people here,” Kendrick said. “We empathize with the people.
Army unit working to get blind Iraqi girl eye treatment
Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment are working to help a young girl in Iraq go beyond having a mental picture of her father to actually seeing him with her eyes.
Noor Taha Najee has been blind since birth, the result of a condition caused by poorly developed corneas. Though the condition can be corrected with surgery, the procedure isn’t available to the family, which lives near Kalsu, south of Baghdad.
The soldiers are working with a nongovernmental organization in Los Angeles to have the surgery done. “We’re on standby now, waiting for a doctor in L.A.,” said 1st Lt. Michael Kendrick, platoon leader of 2nd Platoon, Company D.
go here for the rest
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=53760
Climbing up on my soapbox to get a better view. There are always these very heart warming stories of what some of the men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are trying to do. We see so much of the horrifying images of the wounds they suffer from yet very little of what they have to go through. We see how human these warriors are in stories like this.
They want to help. They didn't go there to kill Iraqis. They were told they were going there to free them from Saddam and find the WMD they were told were meant for us back here at home. That's what they cared about. Ever since the day Iraq was taken, they have been serving and dying and so have the people of Iraq. We still don't know why that was. Still the notion of going in for a good cause is what they had in mind. They still want to hang onto that. They still want to do some good there but they have nothing to do the good with. They can do great and wonderful things here and there, they can try to rebuild what gets blown up and they can try to make peace in a nation that every expert knew would fall apart the way it did. We can argue all we want about what supporting them really means but you would have to be a fool to believe they had any evil intent going there.
We need to see them as humans, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, as much as possible if we are ever going to understand them when they come home and suffer wounds for their service. I get about as angry as anyone about all of this but it gets me even more upset to know when they come home wounded, there isn't enough room for all of them to be taken care of. I see them as humans, courageous humans born with the tendency to be heroic already in them. I see them as noble but within that they are still humans asked to do the abnormal. We send them into this kind of life altering experiences and then we are the first ones to complain when they come home changed by them instead of being ready to take care of them. What the hell is wrong with us? We still don't get it. I still haven't heard of any huge mail drop onto the steps of congress demanding we take care of them. I have yet to read a flood of editorials or special report followed by special report on how we don't. Aren't they worth it?
SAVE Program targets veteran suicides
Program targets veteran suicides
Fledgling prevention effort relies on shared experience
By Anna Badkhen
Globe Staff / March 31, 2008
He knew exactly what it was like, Kevin Lambert told the Iraq war veteran at a Dunkin' Donuts shop north of Boston: the insomnia, the bouts of depression, the hyper-vigilance that makes you imagine roadside bombs hidden in street garbage. Like the veteran, Lambert was 24, had served in Iraq, and had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
"I know how you feel," Lambert said. He listened attentively to the veteran's story before telling him where he could find counseling.
With suicide rates on the rise among military personnel, Massachusetts last month launched a one-of-a-kind program to prevent suicide among veterans of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The program's seven members -a woman whose husband has served in Afghanistan, five young combat veterans, including Lambert, and a mental health expert - say their personal experience helps them reach out to veterans who are considering suicide or who simply need help navigating the complicated and often confusing system of veterans' benefits and services.
"Being in combat and then trying to readjust to the civilian life - it's not easy. No one understands that because they haven't been there," said Lambert, who was deployed with the Army to Mosul and Baghdad in 2005 and 2006. "But we've been there. We can relate."
Members of the program, which is run by the Department of Veterans Services, funded by the Department of Public Health, and known by its acronym, SAVE, hope that their approach will help veterans overcome the sense of alienation and frustration that, combined with mental trauma incurred during combat, can lead to suicide. They meet with veterans, take them out for meals, refer them to counselors and job fairs, escort them to agencies that provide services and benefits to veterans, and explain to their relatives why veterans often appear depressed or restless.
click post title for the rest
Fledgling prevention effort relies on shared experience
By Anna Badkhen
Globe Staff / March 31, 2008
He knew exactly what it was like, Kevin Lambert told the Iraq war veteran at a Dunkin' Donuts shop north of Boston: the insomnia, the bouts of depression, the hyper-vigilance that makes you imagine roadside bombs hidden in street garbage. Like the veteran, Lambert was 24, had served in Iraq, and had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.
"I know how you feel," Lambert said. He listened attentively to the veteran's story before telling him where he could find counseling.
With suicide rates on the rise among military personnel, Massachusetts last month launched a one-of-a-kind program to prevent suicide among veterans of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The program's seven members -a woman whose husband has served in Afghanistan, five young combat veterans, including Lambert, and a mental health expert - say their personal experience helps them reach out to veterans who are considering suicide or who simply need help navigating the complicated and often confusing system of veterans' benefits and services.
"Being in combat and then trying to readjust to the civilian life - it's not easy. No one understands that because they haven't been there," said Lambert, who was deployed with the Army to Mosul and Baghdad in 2005 and 2006. "But we've been there. We can relate."
Members of the program, which is run by the Department of Veterans Services, funded by the Department of Public Health, and known by its acronym, SAVE, hope that their approach will help veterans overcome the sense of alienation and frustration that, combined with mental trauma incurred during combat, can lead to suicide. They meet with veterans, take them out for meals, refer them to counselors and job fairs, escort them to agencies that provide services and benefits to veterans, and explain to their relatives why veterans often appear depressed or restless.
click post title for the rest
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Chaplain in Iraq:All he carries is a camouflage Bible.
Steve Lannen
U.S. Army Chaplain Maj. Charles 'Ed' Hamlin, left, offered Communion at a recent service in Iraq. Photo by Steve Lannen staff
Kentucky chaplain seeks to give comfort in IraqHelps in the toughest times
By Steve Lannen
McClatchy Newspapers
CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq — In a place where everyone is armed, all he carries is a camouflage Bible.
Five years into the war, this is Maj. Charles ”Ed“ Hamlin's first tour in Iraq.
At 44, Hamlin is old enough to be the father of many of the soldiers he ministers to. The lanky man wears oval glasses and his black hair is high and tight.
Hamlin is in Baghdad, part of the 101st Airborne Division out of Fort Campbell, attached to the 716th Battalion, 18th Military Police Brigade.
He is still in the early stages of his own 15-month deployment, which had him and his battalion in Kuwait for Christmas. He readily admits he would rather be at home in Flaherty, Ky., with his wife, Pam, two sons, a daughter and golden Labrador retriever. ”I have 11 months, 25 days to go.“
The Army chaplain was very familiar with this war and its results before he got to Baghdad. From 2004 to 2006, he was posted at Arlington National Cemetery outside Washington, where he officiated at services and ministered to the families of soldiers who'd been killed in action.
Now he ministers to young soldiers who are alive, saluting or joking with them, a friendly face in a war of daily drudgery spliced with moments of terror.
go here for the rest
http://www.kentucky.com/158/story/360148.html
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Military Tells Bush of Troop Strains
U.S. Army soldiers from Third Squadron, Third Armored Cavalry Regiment rest between missions at Combat Outpost Rabiy in Mosul, 360 kilometers (225 miles) northwest of Baghdad, Iraq on Wednesday, March 26, 2008. The northern city is considered by the U.S. military as the last urban stronghold for al-Qaida in Iraq. (Maya Alleruzzo/AP Photo)
Military Tells Bush of Troop Strains
At Pentagon, Bush Hears Military's Worries on War Strains From Long, Frequent Iraq Deployments
The Associated Press By ROBERT BURNS AP Military Writer
WASHINGTON Mar 27, 2008 (AP)
Behind the Pentagon's closed doors, U.S. military leaders told President Bush they are worried about the Iraq war's mounting strain on troops and their families. But they indicated they'd go along with a brief halt in pulling out troops this summer.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff did say senior commanders in Iraq should make more frequent assessments of security conditions, an idea that appeared aimed at increasing pressure for more rapid troop reductions.
The chiefs' concern is that U.S. forces are being worn thin, compromising the Pentagon's ability to handle crises elsewhere in the world.
In the war zone itself, two more American soldiers were killed Wednesday in separate attacks in Baghdad, raising the U.S. death toll to at least 4,003, according to an Associated Press count. Volleys of rockets also slammed into Baghdad's Green Zone for the third day this week, and the U.S. Embassy said three Americans were seriously wounded. At least eight Iraqis were killed elsewhere in the capital by rounds that apparently fell short.
go here for the rest
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/WireStory?id=4533124&page=1
And they wonder why there are so many veterans with PTSD?
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Who killed Sgt. James Musack?
Another U.S. Soldier Suicide in Iraq -- Or Was It Murder?
Posted March 23, 2008 01:59 PM (EST)
For almost five years, I have been chronicling the shocking number of suicides among U.S. troops in Iraq - and after they come home (it's a major component of my new book). They now number well over 1000, and a new one has come to light this past week. Or perhaps it was murder.
No matter, it can be said, as in the countless other cases, that he was "killed by Iraq."
Sgt. James Musack, 23, who hailed from Riverside, Iowa, died on Nov. 21, 2006, north of Baghdad. In an investigation completed in December 2007 - but only received by family members last week -- the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command determined Musack died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Oddly, he was due to finish his tour one week later.
The Cedar Rapids Gazette reported, "Musack's body was found in a secluded area used to make phone calls and as a bathroom at Patrol Base South, according to the report. Musack was found lying on his right side, his left arm cradling his M4 Carbine gun, a single bullet wound to his head. There were no defensive wounds on Musack and no signs of foul play, the report said. No suicide note was found.
"Several soldiers interviewed under oath during the investigation said they knew of no reason Musack would kill himself. He had no medical, financial or personal problems they were aware of. Some described him as a quiet person who held in his feelings. When asked what he thought happened, the sergeant told investigators: 'Honestly, I have no idea. Nothing he did was out of the norm.'"
Musack's friends and family say he had become upset by an incident he never fully described, beyond saying he had made someone angry. According to the report, his girlfriend, Melissa Martin, said he called her in mid-October and said, "Honey, I am being set up." At Musack's funeral, Martin said he had made her make a promise. that "if he did not come home, we would all keep doing what we were doing."
According to the report, Musack's aunt, DeeAnna Newlin, said he had said he saw a little girl killed. Family members are exploring options to get the Army to reopen the investigation.
click above for the rest
Did he kill himself, which looks like it is doubtful or did someone else? They should reopen the investigation.
Posted March 23, 2008 01:59 PM (EST)
For almost five years, I have been chronicling the shocking number of suicides among U.S. troops in Iraq - and after they come home (it's a major component of my new book). They now number well over 1000, and a new one has come to light this past week. Or perhaps it was murder.
No matter, it can be said, as in the countless other cases, that he was "killed by Iraq."
Sgt. James Musack, 23, who hailed from Riverside, Iowa, died on Nov. 21, 2006, north of Baghdad. In an investigation completed in December 2007 - but only received by family members last week -- the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command determined Musack died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Oddly, he was due to finish his tour one week later.
The Cedar Rapids Gazette reported, "Musack's body was found in a secluded area used to make phone calls and as a bathroom at Patrol Base South, according to the report. Musack was found lying on his right side, his left arm cradling his M4 Carbine gun, a single bullet wound to his head. There were no defensive wounds on Musack and no signs of foul play, the report said. No suicide note was found.
"Several soldiers interviewed under oath during the investigation said they knew of no reason Musack would kill himself. He had no medical, financial or personal problems they were aware of. Some described him as a quiet person who held in his feelings. When asked what he thought happened, the sergeant told investigators: 'Honestly, I have no idea. Nothing he did was out of the norm.'"
Musack's friends and family say he had become upset by an incident he never fully described, beyond saying he had made someone angry. According to the report, his girlfriend, Melissa Martin, said he called her in mid-October and said, "Honey, I am being set up." At Musack's funeral, Martin said he had made her make a promise. that "if he did not come home, we would all keep doing what we were doing."
According to the report, Musack's aunt, DeeAnna Newlin, said he had said he saw a little girl killed. Family members are exploring options to get the Army to reopen the investigation.
click above for the rest
Did he kill himself, which looks like it is doubtful or did someone else? They should reopen the investigation.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Family forced to wait too long for answers on son's death in Iraq
Family still in dark on son’s death
Published Sunday, January 27, 2008
CADET (AP) - More than a month after Sgt. Austin David Pratt died in Iraq, his family in Missouri still knows little about the circumstances that led to his death.
Pratt, of Cadet, died Dec. 15 in Baghdad, four days before he would have turned 23. At the time of his death, the Army said only that it was not combat-related. Since then, the Army has said his death is under investigation.
Pratt’s parents, Austin and Monica Pratt, recently issued a statement to the Park Hills Daily Journal that read: "The investigation into the death of our son, Sgt. Austin D. Pratt, is still on going. There is not much we can tell anyone. All we know is his death was an accident and he did not die by means of malice. Hopefully soon we will be informed of what happened at the time of his death."
go here for the rest
http://www.columbiatribune.com/2008/Jan/20080127News029.asp
It's been over a month since Pratt died. What's taking so long on telling the family how it happened? How many other families are left waiting for answers too?
Published Sunday, January 27, 2008
CADET (AP) - More than a month after Sgt. Austin David Pratt died in Iraq, his family in Missouri still knows little about the circumstances that led to his death.
Pratt, of Cadet, died Dec. 15 in Baghdad, four days before he would have turned 23. At the time of his death, the Army said only that it was not combat-related. Since then, the Army has said his death is under investigation.
Pratt’s parents, Austin and Monica Pratt, recently issued a statement to the Park Hills Daily Journal that read: "The investigation into the death of our son, Sgt. Austin D. Pratt, is still on going. There is not much we can tell anyone. All we know is his death was an accident and he did not die by means of malice. Hopefully soon we will be informed of what happened at the time of his death."
go here for the rest
http://www.columbiatribune.com/2008/Jan/20080127News029.asp
It's been over a month since Pratt died. What's taking so long on telling the family how it happened? How many other families are left waiting for answers too?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)