Tag: Department of Defense

Air Force SrA Sabrina Autrey Found Dead at Off Base Apartment in Arlington, Virginia; Official Cause of Death Unknown (August 13, 2008)

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Sabrina Autrey
SrA Sabrina Autrey, U.S. Air Force

Air Force SrA Sabrina Autrey, 23, was found dead in her off base apartment in Arlington, Virginia on August 13, 2008. She was declared missing after failing to show up for work at the Pentagon and then discovered at her home. SrA Autrey was assigned to the Military Personnel Flight, 11th Mission Support Squadron at Bolling Air Force Base in Washington D.C. The Arlington Police Department reported there were “no signs of a forced entry or suicide” and “an autopsy found no obvious signs of foul play or trauma” (a toxicology report was pending). The outcome of the investigation and the official cause of death is unknown.

Related Links:
Airman Found Dead in Apartment
Airman is found dead in Arlington
Air Force Airman’s Body Found in Virginia Apartment
US Air Force (USAF) AIRMAN First Class (A1C) Sabrina Autrey, 729th Air Mobility Squadron (AMS)

Army Pvt. Matthew Brown Died As a Result of a Non-Combat Related Incident in Afghanistan; Death Ruled Suicide But Family Alleges Murder in Vanity Fair Publication (May 11, 2008)

On By AdministratorIn Armed Forces, Army, Cold Cases, In Their Name, Military Policy, Non Combat Death, Suicide, Suspicious DeathsLeave a comment
Matthew Brown
Pvt. Matthew Brown, U.S. Army (photo: Vanity Fair)

Army Pvt. Matthew W. Brown, 20, of Zelienople, Pennsylvania, died May 11, 2008 in Asadabad, Afghanistan from injuries suffered in a non-combat related incident. Pvt. Brown was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom on behalf of the 3rd Battalion, 321st Field Artillery Regiment, 18th Fires Brigade (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. At the time of the incident, the Department of Defense announced Pvt. Brown’s death was under investigation. On January 8, 2019, the family alleged Matthew was murdered in a Vanity Fair publication titled “Leave No Soldier Behind”: The Unsolved Mystery of the Soldier Who Died in the Watchtower.

Related Links:
Pvt Matthew Warren Brown | Find A Grave
DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Pvt. Matthew W. Brown
Army Pvt. Matthew W. Brown | Honor the Fallen
Fort Bragg Soldier dies in Afghanistan
Soldier from Fort Bragg dies in Afghanistan
Fort Bragg soldier dies from injuries in Afghanistan
Zelienople soldier killed in Afghanistan, father says
Soldier from Zelienople killed in Afghanistan
Zelienople soldier who died in Afghanistan buried today
“Leave No Soldier Behind”: The Unsolved Mystery of the Soldier Who Died in the Watchtower | Vanity Fair
Family of soldier found dead in Afghanistan in 2008 says he did not commit suicide as claimed
Family of soldier who was found dead in Afghanistan watchtower in 2008 says he did not commit suicide, as the military claims, and had told them he feared he would be killed over his role in a drug ring that was being run on-base by a ‘thug’ sergeant
“Leave No Soldier Behind”: The Unsolved Mystery of the Soldier Who Died in the Watchtower | Vanity Fair (January 8, 2019)

The Department of Defense Announced the Death of an Army Soldier Supporting Operation Enduring Freedom: Spc. Patrick Tillman (April 23, 2004)

On By AdministratorIn Armed Forces, Army, Felony Crime, In Their Name, Military Policy, Non Combat Death, Scandals, Suspicious DeathsLeave a comment
Pat Tillman (photo: wikipedia)

Related Stories:
The Nation | In the Name of Pat Tillman: Good Riddance to Stanley McChrystal (June 25, 2010)
Why Pat Tillman’s Death Matters (September 10, 2010)
15 Movies and Documentaries That Expose the Broken Military Justice System
Military Injustice: Nowhere to Turn, Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide; The Story of Kamisha Block and How U.S. Army Leadership Contributed to Her Death (May 6, 2024)

Department of Defense Casualty Press Release:

This screenshot of this press release for Patrick Tillman is no longer on the DoD press releases website. They deleted the original site and created a new one that only goes back to 2014.

YouTube Videos:

Remembering Pat Tillman: 10 Year Anniversary Special Report (2014) | Outside The Lines
The Truth Behind the Pat Tillman Story
CNN Official Interview: Pat Tillman’s mother: Evidence was destroyed
Army Ranger Tillman Death Investigation
Tillman Book Tells of Search for Information

Related Links:
Hearing on Tillman, Lynch Incidents: Kevin Tillman’s Opening
Pat Tillman’s brother, Kevin, charged the military with ‘intentional falsehoods that meet the legal
Mom blames Gen. McChrystal for cover-up of Pat Tillman’s death in Afghanistan
CNN Official Interview: Pat Tillman’s mother: Evidence was destroyed
The Tillman Story (Chronicles the life of the late Pat Tillman, who walked away from a multimillion-dollar contract with the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals in 2002 to join the Army but died from friendly fire in Afghanistan)
Pat Tillman, his mom and the 20-year torment of a friendly fire death (April 22, 2024)

Fort Drum Army Pfc. Gary Kalinofski Died of a Non-Hostile Gunshot Wound at Camp Magrath While on a Peacekeeping Mission in Kosovo (March 4, 2002)

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US Army Seal

Army Pfc. Gary S. Kalinofski, 21, died of a gunshot wound at Camp Magrath near Pristina, Kosovo on March 4, 2002. The military casualty announcement confirmed the gunshot wound was not a result of engagement with hostile forces. Pfc. Kalinofski’s home of record was listed as Fayetteville, North Carolina. Pfc. Kalinofski served in Kosovo since November 2001 in a peacekeeping mission role on behalf of A Company, Task Force 1-32nd Infantry Regiment at Fort Drum, New York. According to the book Army Wives by Tanya Biank, the Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID) ruled that Pfc. Gary Kalinofski died as a result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Gary was survived by his parents; his dad also served in the Army and was in Kosovo at the time Gary took his own life. The Army Wives author shared that Gary’s parents were interviewed by Army CID but they didn’t have any insight or knowledge to help Army CID understand why Gary chose to die by suicide.

Editor’s Note: There was no Department of Defense press release for the announcement of the death of Army casualty Pfc. Gary S. Kalinofski in Kosovo.

Related Links:
U.S. Soldier Shot In Kosovo
U.S. peacekeeper diesfrom gunshot wound
U.S. Peacekeeper Dies in Kosovo
U.S. soldier dies of wounds in Kosovo
KFOR unveils memorial to those who died serving as Kosovo peacekeepers

DoD Authorizes Stop Loss (September 24, 2001)

On By AdministratorIn Armed Forces, Military Policy, National Guard, USAF2 Comments

Department of Defense: Statement of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Accident in Vietnam (April 7, 2001)

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xl_deptofdefenselogo

Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld today released the following statement (April 7, 2001):

“Americans are saddened by today’s tragic loss of life of both U.S. and Vietnamese service personnel in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. Those of us in the Department of Defense, and the families of our missing, are keenly aware of the dedication of both the American and Vietnamese team members who were, on this very day, searching for servicemen who have been missing in action since the end of the war.” 

Read more from the Department of Defense here.

7 Americans, 9 Vietnamese Die in Viet Helo Crash (April 10, 2001):

“The Americans killed in the crash were identified as Army Lt. Col. Rennie M. Cory Jr., commander, Detachment 2, Joint Task Force-Full Accounting; Army Lt. Col. George D. Martin III, incoming commander; Air Force Maj. Charles E. Lewis, deputy commander; Army Sgt. 1st Class Tommy J. Murphy, mortuary affairs team sergeant, Central Identification Laboratory-Hawaii; Navy Chief Petty Officer Pedro J. Gonzales, corpsman; and Air Force Master Sgt. Steven L. Moser and Tech. Sgt. Robert M. Flynn, linguists. U.S. Pacific Command officials in Hawaii released the names April 9 at 7 p.m. The Vietnamese dead include the three-member crew and four aircraft technicians. Also killed were two members of the Vietnamese agency that assists U.S. Pacific Command’s Joint Task Force-Full Accounting in its investigation and recovery efforts.”

Read more from the Department of Defense here.

“A Pacific Command investigation into an April 7 helicopter crash that killed seven U.S. servicemen in Vietnam found that deteriorating weather conditions, poor visibility and the Vietnamese pilot’s failure to “properly react” to those conditions were predominant factors in the accident.” –Honolulu Advertiser (October 17, 2001)

Related Links:
Statement of Secretary Rumsfeld on Accident in Vietnam (April 7, 2001)
7 Americans, 9 Vietnamese Die in Viet Helo Crash (April 10, 2001)
US officials mourn Vietnamese helicopter crash victims
U.S. Releases Names of Those Killed in Vietnam Crash
Army, Air Force identify dead in Vietnam crash
Hawaii residents among dead in Vietnam chopper crash
Bodies of 7 returned from Vietnam
Remains of 7 MIA Hunters Return to U.S.
Vietnam crash brings pain to the isle
Never Forgotten: Accounting for American MIAs
Fayetteville Soldier Killed In Helicopter Crash In Vietnam
Virtual Vietnam Veterans In Memory Honor Roll | Rennie Melville Cory Jr.
In Memory of Lt. Col. Rennie Cory Jr
The Bone Collectors | Newsweek
Honoring JTF-FA Heroes
Poor visibility, pilot blamed in Vietnam copter crash
Gone but Never Forgotten