Foul play suspected in soldier’s death (1st female soldier from MO to die)

[Barrett808]

Foul play suspected in soldier’s death
By Daniel R. Brown Special to the NNPA from the St. Louis America

ST. LOUIS (NNPA)—“The military came to my door on July 19 at 7:30 in the morning. The moment my wife looked out the window and she said ‘John, it’s a soldier standing on the porch,’ I knew it was bad news,” recounted John Johnson, father of Private LaVena Johnson, 19, of Florissant, Mo., who recently died near Balad, Iraq.

She was the first female soldier from Missouri to die while serving in the current war in Iraq.

...

“This is what they said: ‘Your daughter died this morning of a self-inflicted wound,’” Johnson recounted. “I said, ‘Self-inflicted? Are you saying that my daughter shot herself?’ He said, ‘No, sir, but it’s being investigated.’”

After LaVena’s remains were returned to the family two weeks ago, the Johnsons did some disturbing and shattering investigations of their own.

“I am going to tell you for a fact. We looked at her body and we saw some things,” Johnson said. “I don’t want to say too much right now, but I am going to say this: I think that the investigation is a criminal investigation, and I think that there is foul play.”

(more)

http://www.frostillustrated.com/news/2005/0810/Front_Page/003.html

[zbdent]

1. There could be a reasonable self-inflicted wound

a grenade comes to mind . . . not being able to get it away quickly or far enough . . .

(joke deleted, after I realized that it would be in extremely bad taste)

[Barrett808]

2. My first thought was abuse and/or rape

The "disturbing" indicators on the body may have been bruises, for example. So this could be an actual suicide due to trauma, or perpetrators could have killed her to assure her silence.

[Eloriel]

5. wouldn't it then be called "an accident"?????????

(joke deleted, after I realized that it would be in extremely bad taste)

Well, AFAIC, what you left wasn't so hot either.

[zbdent]

6. Uh, like getting ready to throw it and

being hit by a bullet . . . is that "not so hot"?

I would think that the inital review of your corpse could hide the gunshot wound enough to wonder if the grenade was "self-inflicted".

What, did you think I was saying that a woman couldn't throw a grenade?

[Judi Lynn]

3. Well, Bush doesn't want Americans to know their relatives and friends

have been dying. Photos of their coffins returning to the States are strictly forbidden.

One newspaper found the occassion of this family's tragedy worth recording, rather than ignoring, and published a photo of them as they watched their daughter's coffin arriving at Lambert International.



From this article: http://www.stlamerican.com/articles/2005/07/29/news/local_news/localnews01.txt

Another article...

Johnson had been assigned to the 129th Corps Support Battalion based at Fort Campbell. She graduated last year from Hazelwood Central High School. As a high school student, she was an honor roll student who had straight A's in her senior year.

The program at the funeral stated: "She was a good Samaritan - she gave canned goods to the Scouts, donated her personal clothes to the needy, walked in marathons for heart disease, gave blood at school and even fed the homeless. LaVena enjoyed making people smile on the inside, as well as the outside."

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/BA1039F972FDECCA8625704D0011AB9C?OpenDocument

[Mithras61]

4. Not a grenade, but a gunshot wound to the head...

"George Heath, the Army public affairs officer at Fort Campbell, Ky., at first confirmed a report that Johnson had been shot in the head. Later Thursday, he said he could not confirm whether she had been shot."
http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/BA1039F972FDECCA8625704D0011AB9C?OpenDocument

The head wound apparently was a gunshot wound, and the US Army is saying it is self-inflicted, but not a suicide. The they said maybe it wasn't a gunshot wound, but was self-inflicted, but not a suicide.

Do I smell a cover-up in the making?

[Miss Chybil]

7. She could have accidentally shot herself, or she could have done it on

purpose. Perhaps this is what they're investigating? They're not sure. If there's more to it than that, I'm sure it will come out of the autopsy. I'm taking a wait and see on this one. It is, however, another senseless death in the War on Iraq. May she rest in peace.

[Mithras61]

8. Maybe so, but...

she sustained significant injuries aside from the gunshot wound, and I don't believe she beat herself up before shooting herself in the head...

[Miss Chybil]

13. That's what should come out in the autopsy. nt

[MADem]

9. There was a thread on this several days ago

And it seemed fishy to me because it was reported as a suicide or accidental shooting. I wondered if the parents got an independent autopsy. As I remember, the young lady was a supply clerk, and had not weapons-qualed before she deployed. She would not have been in a combat situation, odds are she was well behind the wire filling out requisitions. In reading this latest article, I'm guessing she was assigned to the armory, as she was weapons supply...

I hope they get to the bottom of it.

[Janice325]

12. I read that thread, too

I believe the other article indicated the young woman's father is a doctor.
I think something very fishy is going on.
I hope her parents are able to find out what really did happen.

[montana_hazeleyes]

10. Another good,young life destroyed

i hope her family can get the some straight answers on why she died.

[WildClarySage]

15. Even if foul play is proven, straight answers will not be forthcoming,

given *s history over the past week at the ranch.

[Barrett808]

16. That's for damn sure. n/t

[saigon68]

11. FREEDOM IS ON THE MARCH" bellowed the CHIMP

[xchrom]

14. outfuckingrageous!

how can this just not drive people over the edge?!?!
death, mayhem, murder -- all for what? nothing.