Sgt. said ‘kill me’ as leaders lay dying

Sgt. said ‘kill me’ as leaders lay dying

By Michelle Tan - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Apr 13, 2009 16:29:46 EDT

FORT STEWART, Ga. — The sergeant accused of killing his squad leader and his fellow team leader in Iraq shouted “just kill me” as the other men lay bleeding, according to testimony at his Article 32 hearing on Monday.

Several fellow soldiers testified Monday morning they heard Sgt. Joseph C. Bozicevich saying “kill me” after the shootings in the early hours of Sept. 14, 2008, at Patrol Base Jurf as Sahkr, south of Baghdad. Bozicevich is charged with premeditated murder in the deaths of Staff Sgt. Darris J. Dawson, 24, of Pensacola, Fla., and Sgt. Wesley R. Durbin, 26, of Hurst, Texas, who were each shot multiple times.

The soldiers were with A Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division. Bozicevich and Durbin were team leaders, and Dawson was their squad leader. Durbin and Dawson were counseling Bozicevich when he opened fire with his M4, Army officials have said.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/04/army_article32_041309w/

Widow: Fragging death not Army’s fault

Widow: Fragging death not Army’s fault

By Russ Bynum - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Oct 15, 2008 15:33:36 EDT

FORT STEWART, Ga. — A month after the Army told Brandi Durbin her husband was killed in Iraq by a soldier in his own unit, she carries a framed photo of him everywhere she goes. It’s one way of keeping him close to soothe her grief.

“People think I’m crazy, because I have to take it out of my purse to get my wallet,” Durbin said Wednesday. “But it does the job for me.”

Durbin met with reporters Wednesday at Fort Stewart to speak about her husband, Sgt. Wesley Durbin, for the first time since he was fatally shot Sept. 14 along with his squad leader, Sgt. Darris Dawson, at their patrol base south of Baghdad.

The Army has charged Sgt. Joseph Bozicevich, who served under Dawson and alongside Durbin, with killing them both with a rifle.

Brandi Durbin, who lives in Springfield, Ga., said she’s been told little about the case, but doesn’t blame the Army.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/10/ap_durbin_wife_101508/

Family of U.S. soldier in dark about 'non-hostile' death

Family of U.S. soldier in dark about 'non-hostile' death
Story Highlights
Army Staff Sgt. Darris J. Dawson and another soldier were killed in Iraq this week

Another U.S. soldier is being held in connection with the killings

Dawson's father says he can't get a "straight answer" from the U.S. military

The U.S. military has classified the death as "non-hostile"

By Cal Perry
CNN


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Darryl Mathis waits in his Pensacola, Florida, home for the body of his 24-year-old son to return home from Iraq. Mathis, a military veteran himself, was seething with anger Thursday as he spoke about the death of Army Staff Sgt. Darris J. Dawson.

Dawson, and Sgt. Wesley Durbin, 26, are said to have been shot and killed by another U.S. soldier on Sunday at a base south of Baghdad.

Darryl and his wife, Maxine (Dawson's stepmother), say the military has told them nothing about the incident: no details on his death, no information at all.

His voice shakes as he says he believes that the military has let him down.

"I'm very disappointed -- very," he said. "If I would get a straight answer, if they would actually tell me what's going on, I would have something to work on; but right now, I have nothing to work on. Everything I'm getting, I'm getting from the media."

His wife sobs as she says her stepson's death was foreshadowed by a phone call he made to her from Iraq.
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http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/09/18/iraq.soldier.deaths/index.html