Does this sound like a suicide to you?

[Katherine Brengle]

snip http://www.reclusiveleftist.com/?p=648

>> LaVena Johnson, Private First Class, died near Balad, Iraq, on July 19, 2005. She was 19 years old.

According to the Army, her death was a suicide, the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Uh huh.

Here’s the evidence in the case:

* Two loose front teeth and a “busted lip” that had to be reconstructed by the funeral home, though these were not mentioned in the Army autopsy.
* A dislocated shoulder, though this apparently wasn’t mentioned in the Army autopsy either.
* Severe bruising on her body, ditto.
* The absence of psychological indicators of suicidal thoughts; indeed, testimony that LaVena was happy and healthy prior to her death.
* Indications, via residue tests, that LaVena may not even have handled the weapon that killed her.
* A blood trail outside the tent where Lavena’s body was found.
* Indications that someone attempted to set LaVena’s body on fire.

The Johnson family and their supporters have been petitioning the Army to re-open its investigation, but so far the Army is distinctly uninterested in doing so. “Suicide,” says the Army. Open-and-shut case.

Uh huh. <<

There's more info at the link.

You can sign the petition to reopen the case here.

More

[IndianaJones]

1. I am left speechless by this place at times. nt.

[xultar]

2. ...

:grr: :nuke: :grr:

[DS1]

3. internet petitions are a total waste of time

[Katherine Brengle]

Perhaps, I just

posted it as a part of the package that goes along with the story.

[burythehatchet]

7. not for professional spammers

they're a goldmine for them.

[proud2BlibKansan]

65. No they aren't

My senator is Pat Roberts and I hear from him EVERY TIME I sign a petition that goes across his desk. I refuse to waste my time writing him. He is a bush enabler and I agree with him on nothing. But I do sign petition all the time and yes, he does contact me to let me know he got the petition. So he knows I am out here and I disagree with his stance on just about every issue.

[AikidoSoul]

79. Ditto -- my Senator and Congresspersons reply to my petitions too N/T

[Larissa238]

69. There is a big difference between an email pet. and a website one.

Email petitions are usually worthless because it gets forwarded to people, and the signatures branch out like a tree. Take any of the same petition emails from different people, and it will be a whole bunch of different names, especially at the end.

Let's say I sign an email one, and send it to Sally, Dick, and Jane. Sally and Dick like the petition, and sign it. Jane doesn't care (or knows it's useless) and doesn't sign. Sally sends it to her family, and Dick sends it to his. Now Dick and Sally's families have a different set of signatures: Sally's family sees me and Sally. Dick's family sees me and Dick. The more they send it to other people, the more different signatures they get.

As well, the email or website at the end of the email is usually dead, since these petitions last much longer than the cause they were trying to fight or are totally made up. Same goes for all those "missing kids" links. And, on top of that, like someone downthread said, if a spammer gets hold of the email, now they have thousands of names to spam.

BUT

A petition set up on a website keeps track of every signature, in order. There are not normally hundreds of different lists with different names on it. The person in charge of the website then can send the petition to the people that they desire. It is much more effective to have it on a website rather than an email.

[yardwork]

78. This particular petition looks like it will be noticed and read by the Armed Services Committee

This is a legitimate petition. I signed it.

[Larissa238]

81. I agree, it does look legit

I was just posting about the email petitions because some people don't understand how websites can be much more reliable than email.

[YOY]

4. Let me guess...she's black too

Not gonna get Pat Tillman coverage here. Sick world...

[Katherine Brengle]

5. Yes, she was.

[tridim]

9. Speaking of Tillman coverage..

What happened to the Tillman coverage?

It just stopped one day last week and we haven't heard a peep since. Unless I missed something, it has apparently been tossed down the memory hole.

[rucognizant]

60. Just Today

Tillman's Widow speaks out on Huffinton Post

[eridani]

19. There needs to be some kind of national organization here, I think

What if the Tillmans got together with Lavena Johnson's family, and many other families who have been victims of cover-ups? This shit has got to stop.

[John Q. Citizen]

33. That's the ticket. It takes organizing to move these issues into the public eye and

to keep it there.

[Pokey Anderson]

34. She may have been a lesbian, too.

Speculation, of course. And, perhaps not likely to be revealed by the military or her family.

But, if one or more males were attempting rape, she may have resisted. Her attacker(s) may have suspected she was a lesbian, or she may have volunteered it while resisting.

Regardless, one should not go to a foreign land where we are not wanted, to force democracy/aka empire on people whose misfortune is to be sitting atop large oil reserves, and be killed by one of one's comrades in arms. And, have it be covered up by the government one thought one was serving.

[Hoof Hearted]

48. So if one or more males attempts rape and you fight back

You may be a lesbian?

Holy FUCKING CHRIST!

That was a

FUCKED UP

THING TO SAY.

What.
is.
wrong.
with.
you.

[emlev]

52. I'm guessing there's some miscommunication here.

A large proportion of the women in the military, historically, have been lesbians. So there's a decent possibility that this was a homophobic hate crime. I don't hear Pokey saying it was, and certainly don't hear Pokey saying that fighting back would "make her a lesbian."

I think what Pokey wrote was somewhat obtuse. Perhaps asking for clarification would be more useful than hostility.

Pokey, would you care to clarify?

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

56. Where do you get your statistics? I'm a woman who served and I

didn't see that lesbians were a "large" proportion.

Although, I didn't spend a lot of time ruminating about it, either.

If our population percentage is truly 10% gay and 90% hetero, then the number of gay women (and men) in the Armed Forces were a higher percentage than that, but by no means the majority.

Not that it really matters, it's just another conventional wisdom talking point put out there without substantiation. MKJ

[gentlegiant]

86. I believe the ratio of gay/straight in the military depends

on the rating you're serving under. (What your job is.) From my experience, the ratings that required a higher degree of intelligence or education had more gay people. The ratings that involved mostly physical work had fewer gay people per capita. But it may have been that those serving in the more physical, combat-ready areas of the military were more strongly closeted.

In my rating, there were those that barely masked their orientation and then those that would only tell you about it after months of establishing trust. But there was a gay population roughly the same as on the civilian side of life- about 1 in 10 from what I could see.

My hat is off to any gay citizen who chooses to serve, because as difficult as military life can be, they have the added burden of having to perform the same duties while maintaining secrecy about a major part of their personality/psyche, and often to worry about being caught, discharged or worse. I think their dedication and love of country must surpass that of the "average citizen".

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

87. I had the unhappy experience of seeing a gay "purge" of soldiers from

the company in which I was serving.

It was disgusting. They were among the best and brightest serving and the callous way in which they were removed from service, for the most idiotic of reasons, still infuriates me to this day.

One of the soldiers was a woman who was a barracks mate. I liked her, we got along. We chatted in the day room and worked together off and on.

I was microwaving a dinner in the common area, she was there as well. We struck up a conversation and she told me that she was being kicked out for being gay. I didn't know that she was, but I didn't know that she wasn't. I just knew she was smart and ethical, something one values in any setting.

I was shocked, first at the fact that an exemplary individual as she was being kicked out and second that the "reason" was because she was gay.

Naive as I was, it was my first jolting understanding that people were actually institutionally persecuted for their sexuality.

One of the men who was "purged" was an E-6 who was far and above the best NCO in the company.

CIS spent a lot of time investigating them and spying on them.

Your response reminded me of this and how I didn't speak up, when I should have.

MKJ

[RaleighNCDUer]

66. I suspect that what Pokey meant was the lesbian revelation preceeded

the assault - a guy gets too agressives and she responds with "I play on the other team", and that REALLY pisses him of, and so on...

Obviously, lesbians are not more likely, or less likely, to resist sexual assault. But the person committing the assault could be further motivated by anti-gay bigotry, leading to a higher level of violence.

[rainy]

62. Therefore only lesbians resist rape?????? You might want to rethink your words!

It sounds like you are saying that if she was not a lesbian she would have welcomed the rape.

[LittleOne]

64. I am a lesbian that dated a lesbian in the Navy

I am a lesbian that dated a lesbian in the Navy. I have been on a Naval airbase and my gaydar darn near shorted out from sensory overload. There were more lesbians and gays there than a pride parade.

[atommom]

68. Perhaps, though I really don't see how that matters.

Whatever the motives of her attackers, her family deserves justice.

[flying_monkeys]

40. What tipped you off? ;)

Although in fairness, I think the Powers That Be would attempt a cover-up with any female servicewoman who died this way....

[warren pease]

That's easy...

* Two loose front teeth and a “busted lip” that had to be reconstructed by the funeral home, though these were not mentioned in the Army autopsy.

Clearly, she tried to beat the shit out of herself prior to death.


* A dislocated shoulder, though this apparently wasn’t mentioned in the Army autopsy either.

In the process of trying to beat the shit out of herself, she threw a punch that missed her head and caused her arm to hyper-extend, which kicked the shoulder right out of the socket.


* Severe bruising on her body, ditto.

Further evidence of self-inflicted wounds prior to suicide.


* The absence of psychological indicators of suicidal thoughts; indeed, testimony that LaVena was happy and healthy prior to her death.

Still waters run deep.


* Indications, via residue tests, that LaVena may not even have handled the weapon that killed her.

Easy; she wore surgical gloves, then removed and hid them in the time between firing the shot and instantaneous death.


* A blood trail outside the tent where Lavena’s body was found.

Well, you'd make a bloody mess too if you had done all that self-inflicted damage and then shot yourself in the head and then walked around until finding the perfect place to conceal the gloves and then went back into the tent to die.


* Indications that someone attempted to set LaVena’s body on fire.

I can't really figure this one out, except that she was probably a heavy smoker and, operating in a deranged and delusional state, tried to light her torso instead of the cigarette. But I'd have to see photos to be sure.


And there you have it; signed off by the same guys who certified the JFK autopsy.


wp

[noiretextatique]

8. yet army says the case is closed

and they stand by their investigation and the cause of the death: suicide. appalling.

[uppityperson]

21. You missed spontaneous combustion. k&r

[warren pease]

22. Well, that's just unsubstantiated nonsense, whereas...

...my incisive analysis of the evidence suggests only one possible verdict -- suicide by self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head resulting in instantaneous death. Instantaneous except for the time it took her to remove the gloves and hide them before returning inside the tent to complete her instantaneous death.


wp

[warren pease]

73. This just in...

autopsy report says there's significant evidence of spontaneous combustion. It was the only way they could explain the burns, which didn't appear self-inflicted. So my theory of the victim mistaking her torso for a cigarette is now officially dead, and has been replaced by a logical argument for spontaneous combustion. I apologize for doubting you yesterday.


wp

[DemBones DemBones]

49. Yep, sounds like the Warren Commission to me.

Excellent gallows humor, shows how ridiculous it is to write this off as a suicide, although it is possible to shoot yourself in the head and not die at all, much less instantaneously. I know two people who did so.

Busting your own lip, loosening your front teeth, dislocating your shoulder and bruising your body? Nope. Trying to burn your own body? Pretty masochistic.

[T Wolf]

6. Another rape victim of our brave men in uniform. nt

[yardwork]

15. That's what it sounds like to me, too.

A rape and murder that is being covered up by the military. Meanwhile, where are the people who raped and murdered her?

[truebrit71]

17. It sure sounds that way doesn't it?

Isn't it bad enough that they have to be there in the first place? Now they have to keep the 'good guys' off 'em as well?

Unreal...

[lumberjack_jeff]

29. That or a whistleblower. n/t

[The Doctor.]

10. If that were [i]my[/i] family member I'd make a *serious* nuisance of myself.

I would throw charges of murder around, hand out information outside of recruiting centers to let kids know the army can kill them and cover it up, I'd make sure no one's daughters ever signed up, and I'd sure as hell want this story on COUNTDOWN WITH KEITH OLBERMANN.

I'd send the story to EVERY local and national paper, magazine, and news outlet. I'd make sure that they got a new envelope and email weekly and daily.

They would not stop hearing from me, each and every one of them, until they ran the story

[idgiehkt]

16. me too

I would raise hell about this. I hope her family does.

[Richard Steele]

11. Of course not. It was murder, and the US Army is an "accomplice after the fact". K&R

[JuniperLea]

12. "accomplice after the fact"

And damn well better be held accountable!

We are letting this loose cannon government get away with far too much!

I was watching PBS last night, as per usual, and there was a great show on the history of slavery in America. The slave rebellion was a beautiful thing, imho, and until all Americans rise up, we are all slaves to the government.

[wicket]

26. "We are letting this loose cannon government get away with far too much!"

Amen to that. Time for this BULLSHIT to stop once and for all.

[lumberjack_jeff]

30. Absolutely right. K&R

[Just-plain-Kathy]

13. I have a neo-con neighbor who thinks it's fun to bother me about a draft...

that may include girls. ...I say girls and not women because at 18, they're still children.

[Katherine Brengle]

14. I don't get it...

[Just-plain-Kathy]

18. I feel 18/19 is too young to serve.

Maybe I should have made clear I have a 17 year old daughter.

Your op is very sad, I wasn't thinking straight. I wanted to respond so I could kick it.

[Katherine Brengle]

24. Oh, I gotcha. I agree with you.

Very few people, male or female, are prepared for military service at such a young age. Most still live with their parents and have not experienced life to any degree. I don't think the military is the place to start a life.

[yardwork]

72. That's exactly why the military targets young people to recruit.

Militaries typically go for the young. They're more easily manipulated, more easily made to feel completely loyal to their commanders, and much more willing to take risks. Adolescents are, by nature, risktakers who bond with their peers.

[Spiffarino]

41. I totally agree.

Start a public-service draft at age 21 or 22, right after an individual completes college or gets a vocational education. Let the individual decide on a military, overseas public service or a U.S. public service option. They can carry a gun, or build roads, or fix bridges, or help feed the hungry, or ??

But 18? That's ridiculous. They only want them that young because they're easily brainwashed.

[The M Double]

71. My entire life...

it's struck me as odd that you can't drink alcohol until 21 but can carry a gun & die for your country at 18?
I've never been able to figure out that line of reasoning...

[presspeal]

82. Ha!

and rusk good(rich) Republican children being sent off?:sarcasm: (so I like to underscore the point)

[followthemoney]

20. Reminds me of the suicide in a Douglas Adams book.

It was a self inflicted decapitation and for special effect he put his own head on a record turntable. But that book was supposed to be fiction.

[The Doctor.]

25. "Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency"

The perp never left the room, was hiding behind an air molecule the whole time.

[Forkboy]

54. I liked those books as much as the Hitchhiker ones.

I would have loved to see more.

[JNelson6563]

23. It reminds me of

"two shots to the back of the head, ruled a suicide" sort of thing.

Bastards.

Julie

[wicket]

27. DISGUSTING

:grr:

[live love laugh]

28. .

[mzmolly]

31. My grandmother was a victim of domestic violence. She was murdered at the age of 47

at the hands of her partner. I wont go into much detail, but the man who killed her was never brought to trial due to a lack of evidence. He claimed she fell down a flight of stairs, he helped her back to bed, and she died in the night. This explained all the bruises and injuries she had.

She died of a ruptured bladder http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/peritonitis-000127.htm#Causes">(peritonitis) officially. Not sure how one could rupture a bladder via a fall, but I'm not a doctor.

Her abuser had placed her in the hospital several times and neighbors testified to the beatings they witnessed out in the open. Friends said she never so much as raised her voice to him. She never disagreed with him, never fought back. She endured verbal and physical abuse on a regular basis. She left him and returned, left and returned. She was known as a very kind/passive woman, and that's what I remember of her as well.

My grandmother was a widow, and was no longer with my grandfather, obviously.

Sorry to stray from the topic, the story above reminded me of hers. I am heartbroken for this family, and I'm sorry we live in a culture where vulnerable people are victimized.

I'll gladly sign this petition, and I thank you for continued efforts to bring important matters to our attention.

Recommended

[Hoof Hearted]

50. molly I'm sorry that happened to your grandma.

So many of our mothers and grandmas didn't feel like they had a choice. They were trapped.
God rest her soul.

This struggle is far from over.

[mzmolly]

61. Thank you and

welcome.

It was long ago, but I reflect on occasion when I hear about such things.

[burrowowl]

32. Already signed a couple of weeks ago!

Sign and send to your friends!
It was not suicide, it was murder!

[Kurovski]

35. Kick. (nt)

[WillyT]

36. Petition Signed !!! - K & R !!!

:kick:

[tkmorris]

37. Murder, obviously

This is just sickening. There are no words.

[Spiffarino]

38. Signed, kicked and recommended

I want to know what the hell they're trying to cover up...and for whom they are covering. The whole affair stinks like rotten carp. I'm suspicious that somebody powerful and/or connected is being protected.

[kaygore]

39. Tried but couldn't get past the password and finally gave up

[lovuian]

42. No it sounds like she was killed

but how will we ever know

[Colorado Progressive]

43. Why is it asking me for a petition password?????

And what is the password????

[Mnemosyne]

63. The password is letters at the bottom right in the greyish block

description of petition. zhzxxv

[sce56]

44. Among the 3,096 United States service personnel killed in Iraq is Col. Ted Westhusing.

Among the 3,096 United States service personnel killed in Iraq is Col. Ted Westhusing. The U.S. Army’s top military ethicist and a full-time professor at West Point, Col. Westhusing volunteered for service in Iraq in order to better teach his cadet charges. He died on June 5, 2005, the victim of a gunshot wound to the head.
Col. Westhusing wasn’t just any old officer. He was the U.S. Army’s top ethicist, a full-time professor at West Point, the United States Military Academy. Colleagues and comrades-in-arms are on-record as saying he was the last person they believed would ever take his own life.

Something must have really bothered this man, for him to consider suicide.

Perhaps there is something more sinister. Col. Westhusing is reported to have expressed concerns for his life. I’m not sure if it’s mere coincidence that his bodyguard was off on a week’s worth of R&R when the shooting occurred.

[yardwork]

75. A West Point professor ethics - I can think of a lot of reasons

why the military might not have wanted him to talk about what he'd likely seen in Iraq. I can also imagine why he might have felt total despair at what he saw.

[Nothing Without Hope]

85. FWIW - here is a dump of the files in my Westhusing folder:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2298564
http://theheretik.us/2006/01/09/war-on-the-press/
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1047085
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/06/06/the-tragedy-of-col-westhusing/
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1593016

In no way do I believe this was a suicide. He was on-site investigating Iraq contractor corruption when he was killed.

[Triana]

45. The Army lied about my step-brother's death too..

...years ago. They KILLED him in boot camp. They put on the death cert that he had some respiratory infection/pneumonia or some crap. But he had broken breastbones and bruises on his chest and a punctured lung - the bruises not surprisingly in the shape of the butt of a rifle. He was a BIG kid. Apparently in boot camp, when they make them march until they fall down then they kick and beat them till they get back up, Paul couldn't get back up. So they crushed his chest with the butt of a rifle.

They called it pneumonia. Bullshit. They LIED. My step-dad started to pursue the case but just couldn't stomach it. When he approached them with it, the LIED - just like they did in the case in the OP.

The DO that sometimes - probably more often than we know...

[eridani]

53. There really should be a national organization devoted to exposing this shit n/t

[yardwork]

76. I'm so sorry.

Sometimes there are no words. I'm so sorry.

[frogcycle]

46. there are several other examples I've seen

One from St Louis, another from Florida

Last I saw on them one was "natural causes" and the other "under investigation." Circumstances sounded very fishy on both. (both black females late twenties)

Does anyone recall even one homicide case being brought? Male/female/black/white victim - regardless. One case? I don't think so. We all know that violence happens, people are not all admirable, and in that environment the bad ones probably get badder. Not ONE case? Come on.

That tells you that they've covered up at least a few. And that means we have no clue.

[frogcycle]

47. here's another picture

[DemBones DemBones]

51. It would be good to get Keith Olbermann interested in this

case. Why not send Keith details of the case, and also send it to your Congressman and Senators, along with a letter, as suggested at the website?

Her death should be reclassified as a homicide. It may never be solved but the Army could do that much for the family.

[mahina]

55. I wrote to both my Senator and Congressmen, who know me, whos

who are on the Armed Services Committee and I forget the Senate's version, whose campaigns I worked on.

And yeah, I signed the petition and sent it to everyone I know who cares about peace and justice.

I would not have even heard of her without DU. Mahalo.

[Judi Lynn]

57. What a vicious, horrific end to a human life: treated with complete disprespect at all points.

Thank you for posting the information and the chance to at least sign a petition. It's wrong to assume signatures will not help. I believe they can.

[razors edge]

58. Sounds more like this.

http://www.iraq-war.ru/article/138861

Green Zone Follies

Baghdad, 16 Aug 07: “Growing discontent among the grunts here about certain very ugly stories, mostly true, of murders of soldiers and increasing suicides. Also, ‘fragging’ of dictatorial officers and NCOs are increasing.

Whenever you see ‘The death is currently under investigation’ .you know it was probably either a murder by the military or a suicide. They have a small gang attached here whom no one knows anything about but very strong and enduring rumor has it that they are an official ‘hit gang’ who go around offing GIs who are viewed as trouble makers or those who might talk too much if rotated.

And one of the reasons for increasing suicides is that fact that once here, you almost always stay here or, if sent home, it’s for a very short period of time and then back into the maw of the great death machine. Any grunt who dares to bitch or, most especially, to trash mouth Bush is looking for a “sniper’s bullet’ through the head.

Last week we lost three helicopters and eleven men but I see by looking at the DoD sites that only one was reported.

[yardwork]

77. That is a powerful report. The main stream media should be reporting this.

A "hit gang" offing GIs who are viewed as trouble makers or those who might talk too much if rotated? Anyone trashmouthing Bush is looking for a "sniper's bullet through the head?

That's exactly what his family thinks happened to Pat Tillman.

[tom_paine]

59. In Bushmerika or Nazi Germany, "yes", that is what a "suicide" looks like

Sad...but 100% true.

I have no doubt any of the "suicides" in the beginning of Nazi Germany, before the Crueler and Meaner Bushies started World War II, looked exactly like that.

It is important to know where Amerika stands as a nation, and who we now resemble, so that we may be prepared if the final form of Bushevism is as close to the final form of Nazism as I suspect it could be.

[donsu]

67. she was probably going to tell on a rapist - so was murdered

I'd be looking at the officers in charge

[whistle]

70. The family's lawyer should consult with that forensic specialist

...who used to have a TV show I forget his name. This was no suicide :wtf:

[SunDrop23]

74. Signed it, recd it, KICKED IT!

Thank you for your service, you bright shining star.

[Dukkha]

80. This needs to be on every news blog out there

It's starting to look like someone high up is ordering these "Code Red" executions on the troops.

[jumptheshadow]

83. Question

This week the military released the news of the deaths of three women -- I think from Fort Hood -- who were killed in Iraq. I don't recall them announcing the cause of death. Did anybody see any stories that got into detail about what the causes of their deaths were?

I was surprised by the lack of information about their deaths, even in their hometown paper.

[Nothing Without Hope]

84. ***Two DU threads from Jan '06 on the rape and murder of female US troops:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2424851
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2421772

I don't think this is an isolated case. Maybe they "only" meant to rape her and then unsuccessfully tried to cover up her murder by burning her body. Whoever did it, it seems to be almost a standard policy to lie about "inconvenient" deaths.

Just think what these people would be like unleashed on the US populace in martial law.

K & R