http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/15503250.htmArmy secretary reveals combat death plan
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO - Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey says he is aiming to "achieve perfection" in a new drive to inform families of soldiers killed in combat about the circumstances of their deaths.
In a memo obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, Harvey outlines a far-reaching review he recently initiated of some 2,000 casualty reports from Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.
In the Sept. 1 letter to Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., Harvey reveals a previously unknown element of the reforms: Commanders in the field must investigate even if the cause of death was apparent. Previously, such investigations were conducted only when there was uncertainty about the circumstances, Army spokesman Paul Boyce said.
The review follows highly publicized mistakes in what families were told about their relatives who had died. The best-known error involved Cpl. Pat Tillman, who quit professional football to join the U.S. Army Rangers and was killed in Afghanistan in April 2004. His family was originally told he had been killed by enemy fire, but five weeks later they learned that fellow Rangers had accidentally shot him.