Indiana Guardsman Awaits Court-Martial in Iraqi Officer's Death

[NNN0LHI]

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGB5HN0LJBE.html

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) - Cpl. Dustin Berg seemed to be a hometown hero in the making when he left on his 20th birthday to fight in the war that inspired him to join the military.

His family brimmed with pride two years later with news that the Indiana National Guardsman was coming home from Iraq, wounded but alive.

Then the Army accused him of war crimes.

Berg, now 22, is accused of killing an Iraqi police officer in November 2003, then shooting himself in the stomach to give the impression of a gun battle and prevent an investigation. He faces charges of murder and giving false statements with a court-martial set to begin Monday at Fort Knox, Ky.

[WhiteTara]

1. "I gave the army a good boy

and they sent back a murderer" quote from a mother of a Vietnam vet. Bush has a lot to answer for. IMPEACH BUSH AND SEND HIM TO THE HAGUE

[Judi Lynn]

2. Cpl. Awaits Court-Martial in Iraqi Death

Cpl. Awaits Court-Martial in Iraqi Death

Sunday July 24, 2005 7:01 PM


By RYAN LENZ
Associated Press Writer

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) - Cpl. Dustin Berg seemed to be a hometown hero in the making when he left on his 20th birthday to fight in the war that inspired him to join the military.

His family brimmed with pride two years later with news that the Indiana National Guardsman was coming home from Iraq, wounded but alive.

Then the Army accused him of war crimes.

Berg, now 22, is accused of killing an Iraqi police officer in November 2003, then shooting himself in the stomach to give the impression of a gun battle and prevent an investigation. He faces charges of murder and giving false statements with a court-martial set to begin Monday at Fort Knox, Ky.
(snip/...)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-5163648,00.html

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Indiana Guardsman awaits court-martial in Iraqi officer's death

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- Cpl. Dustin Berg seemed a hometown hero in the making when he left on his 20th birthday to fight in the war that had inspired him to join the military.


His family brimmed with pride two years later with news that the Indiana National Guardsman was coming home from Iraq, wounded but alive.

That was before the Army accused him of war crimes.

Berg, now 22, of Ferdinand, Ind., is accused of killing an Iraqi police officer in November 2003, then shooting himself in the stomach to give the impression of a firefight and prevent an investigation. He faces charges of murder and giving false statements during a court-martial on July 25 at Fort Knox, Ky.
(snip/...)

http://www.wkyt.com/Global/story.asp?S=3631282

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Sunday, July 24, 2005

A town stands by native son
Indiana guardsman facing a court martial for Iraq crimes
By Lesley Stedman Weidenbener
[e-mail]
The Courier-Journal

FERDINAND, Ind. -- Indiana National Guard Cpl. Dustin Berg will face a court martial tomorrow in which a military jury will be asked to decide whether he should be punished for killing an Iraqi police officer.

But the people of Ferdinand, the village in southern Dubois County where Berg was born and reared, have already rendered their verdict:

Shame on the government for even bringing the charges.

"We're supportive of him because he went over to fight a war," said Larry Werne, a Vietnam veteran who knows Berg from the American Legion Post 124 in Ferdinand. "He's a fine young man."

Berg has admitted that he shot the Iraqi officer in 2003, then used the man's gun to shoot himself, and later lied about it, accepting a Purple Heart for his injuries.
(snip/...)

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050724/NEWS02/507240386



Cpl. Dustin Berg, 21, is
shown here at a February
2004 ceremony at Camp
Atterbury in Johnson
County.

http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:KngelcJBcW0J:www.indianamilitary.org/Timelines/2005/Mar.htm+Cpl.+Dustin+Berg&hl=en

[Judi Lynn]

3. Ind. Guardsman Readies for Court-Martial

Ind. Guardsman Readies for Court-Martial
By RYAN LENZ, Associated Press Writer

Monday, July 25, 2005
(07-25) 02:11 PDT Evansville, Ind. (AP) --

An Indiana National Guard soldier contends he shot an Iraqi police officer in self-defense after the officer tried to stop him from reporting insurgent activity.

But Cpl. Dustin Berg was charged with murder and giving false statements after prosecutor Capt. Dan Stigall said Berg changed his story multiple times. "He lied about this incident repeatedly, over and over again," Stigall said.

The case against Berg, the latest in at least a dozen court-martials of U.S. troops accused in the deaths of Iraqi civilians, highlights the murky rules of engagement on the battlefield and raises questions about whether a soldier's right to defend himself depends on the presence of a witness.

Berg's court-martial was to begin Monday at Fort Knox, Ky. He is accused of killing the Iraqi police officer in November 2003, then shooting himself in the stomach to give the impression of a firefight and prevent an investigation.
(snip/...)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/07/25/national/w021158D83.DTL