09/17/2014: DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Michael Donahue, 41, Afghanistan, Fort Bragg, North Carolina
09/17/2014: DoD Identifies DoD Civilian Casualty: Stephen Byus, 39, Afghanistan, Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Ohio
09/17/2014: DoD Identifies Marine Casualty: Charles Strong, 28, Afghanistan, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina
09/05/2014: DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Brian Arsenault, 28, Afghanistan, Fort Bragg, North Carolina
Officers find the lifeless body of furniture salesman behind the wheel. But Faast didn’t die in the wreck – he was shot point-blank in the temple. Lt. Joe Kenda must track a killer whose promising career took a dark and deadly turn. -Death Grip, Homicide Hunter (S4,E4)
Editor’s note: With a cable subscription, you can download the free ID Go app and watch Investigation Discovery programming at your convenience. And for those who do not have cable, you can watch “unlocked” episodes on the ID Go app including the latest premieres. For those who prefer commercial free programming during your binge session, Prime Video has an ID channel: ‘True Crime Files by Investigation Discovery” available for $3.99 a month. It’s a compilation of older seasons but totally worth the cost if you are a true crime addict. Download the ID Go app or purchase ID True Crime Files & binge away.
Related Links:
The Fastest Discharge in Military History
Death Grip | Homicide Hunter | Investigation Discovery (S4,E4)
Death Grip | Homicide Hunter | Investigation Discovery (website)
Death Grip | Homicide Hunter | Investigation Discovery (Amazon)
Death Grip | Homicide Hunter | Investigation Discovery (Hulu)
Air Force Capt. Ronald Ball Fatally Shot Michael Faast; Exercised Right to Remain Silent, Plead Temporary Insanity, Found Guilty But Insane (February 2, 1979)
Homicide Hunter: 10 Active Duty Military and Veteran Murder Cases Featured on Investigation Discovery
Related Links:
MP soldier found dead at Fort Bragg
Soldier from San Angelo Found Dead at Fort Bragg
Fort Bragg soldier’s death Sunday under investigation
Bragg officials investigating military police officer’s death
Death Of Soldier With Military Dog Unit Under Investigation
Family mourns loss of soldier at Fort Bragg
08/24/2014: DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Christopher Mulalley, 26, NCD, Afghanistan, Fort Hood, Texas
08/21/2014: DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Matthew Leggett, 39, Afghanistan, Fort Bragg, North Carolina
08/13/2014: DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Samuel Hairston, 35, Afghanistan, Fort Bragg, North Carolina
08/06/2014: DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Harold Greene, 55, Afghanistan, Combined Security Transition Command
08/04/2014: DoD Identifies Army Casualty: Girard Gass Jr, 33, NCD, Afghanistan, Fort Bragg, North Carolina
Related Links:
August: Department of Defense Casualties Report (2002)
August: Department of Defense Casualties Report (2003)
August: Department of Defense Casualties Report (2004)
August: Department of Defense Casualties Report (2005)
August: Department of Defense Casualties Report (2006)
August: Department of Defense Casualties Report (2007)
August: Department of Defense Casualties Report (2008)
August: Department of Defense Casualties Report (2009)
August: Department of Defense Casualties Report (2010)
August: Department of Defense Casualties Report (2011)
August: Department of Defense Casualties Report (2012)
August: Department of Defense Casualties Report (2013)
August: Department of Defense Casualties Report (2015)
August: Department of Defense Casualties Report (2016)
August: Department of Defense Casualties Report (2017)
Non Combat Deaths of Female Soldiers in the US Military (Iraq)
Non Combat Deaths of Female Soldiers in the US Military (Afghanistan)
Non Combat Deaths of Female Soldiers in the US Military (Other Areas)
In Photos: The Epidemic of Military Sexual Assault
Some 26,000 women [and men] are sexually assaulted in the military every year. Photojournalist Mary Calvert documented some of their stories.
“Why is this happening? To answer that question, Mary Calvert met with survivors and went to congressional hearings on military sexual assault. The women she met connected her with more women, and she photographed them in their homes and communities. Through her work, she learned that just 1 in 7 victims of sexual assault in the military reported the attack; of those assaults that were reported, just 1 in 10 ever saw a trial.”
Read more from Cosmopolitan here.
“I get emails, and comments from people saying, ‘I was sexually assaulted in the military and I’ve never told anybody and when I saw these pictures and read these stories I felt more courage to go out and get some help.'” -World Press Photo Foundation (May 18, 2017)
Related Links:
Mary F. Calvert Official Website
The Battle Within: Sexual Assault in America’s Military Part 1: The Hearings
The Battle Within: Sexual Assault in America’s Military Part 1: The Survivors
Missing in Action: Homeless Women Veterans
The Battle Within: Sexual Assault in America’s Military
Mary F. Calvert | John Simon Guggenheim Foundation
Surviving Rape in the Military – The New York Times
The New York Times Discusses Mary F. Calvert’s Photography on Sexual Assault in the Military
Thousands Are Sexually Assaulted In The U.S. Military Every Year. These Are Some Of Their Stories.
Photos: Women Who Risked Everything to Expose Sexual Assault in the Military
Haunting Photo Essay Illustrates the Real-Life Toll of Military Sexual Assault in America
Sexual Assault in America’s Military | Photographer: Mary F. Calvert
World Press Photo Winners: Mary F. Calvert and Military Sexual Assault
“It’s sad to think that this could become my life’s work”
Mary F. Calvert on Photographing Military Sexual Assault Without Adding to Her Subjects’ Suffering
The Battle Within: Sexual violence in America’s military laid bare as record numbers of women are raped
‘I just pulled up my pants and went back to work’: Women veterans reveal the shocking sexual and physical abuse they suffered in the US armed forces
The Battle Within: Sexual Assault in America’s Military | Visa pour l’image
Mary F. Calvert on ‘Sexual Assault in America’s Military’
Amy discovers that her boyfriend’s war game unfolds very differently when the player chooses a female character. -Inside Amy Schumer, Comedy Central (August 26, 2014)
The sketch says it all… there’s a reason the majority of service members don’t report crime. Character assassination and retaliation is real for both male and female victims of crime in the military. Their lives, reputations, careers, and futures are dependent on the actions of the convening authority who has the power to do nothing. In the civilian world, after reporting a crime to the local police department and evidence is gathered, a prosecutor determines whether or not a case moves forward in the judicial system. The Military Justice Improvement Act (MJIA) attempts to mirror this process and was reintroduced in June 2019, yet again was not allowed on the Senate floor for a vote. The last cloture vote on the way the military should handle felony crimes was on March 6, 2014. Invoking cloture means 60 Senators or two-thirds is required for passage of a bill as opposed to the majority of Senators. The biggest opponents of the MJIA were former Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and former Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), both since voted out of the Senate and replaced by Senator Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Senator Martha McSally (R-AZ). This pair of military officers are proponents of keeping the Chain of Command involved in the decision making process of adjudicating felony crime despite what the majority of military sexual assault survivors have asked for because the fear and retaliation continues. Meanwhile, the fight for military justice reform rages on. #PassMJIA
Related Links:
Inside Amy Schumer – A Very Realistic Military Game (YouTube)
Inside Amy Schumer – A Very Realistic Military Game (website)
Inside Amy Schumer: Military Video Game and Victim Blaming
Best of 2014: Inside Amy Schumer’s military rape sketch
The 11 Best Sketches from ‘Inside Amy Schumer’ Season 2
Amy Schumer Plays a Very Realistic Military Game (Trigger Warning)
Here’s Why You Don’t Want To Play A Female Character In A ‘Realistic’ Military Game
Amy Schumer Realizes Military Games Are Not Fun for Female Characters
15 feminist Amy Schumer sketches that will make you stand up and cheer
Amy Schumer’s Top 5 Feminist Comedy Sketches
The top 10 funniest sketches from ‘Inside Amy Schumer’
Amy Schumer: ‘I don’t try to be feminist. I just am. It’s innately inside me’
Amy Schumer Is A Feminist Icon & Here’s 5 Undeniable Reasons Why
5 jokes that explain how Amy Schumer became the new queen of comedy
Breathless: Why Amy Schumer Is an Amazing Feminist
Amy Schumer’s Call of Duty: The Comedic Art of Straddling the Line Between Humor and Hurt
Army Sgt. Christopher Mulalley, 26, died as the result of a non-combat related incident on August 22, 2014 in Gardez, Afghanistan. Sgt. Mulalley was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom on behalf of the 1st Battalion, 3rd Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, Texas. At the time of the Department of Defense press release, the incident was under investigation. The official cause of death is unknown.
Related Links:
DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Honor the Fallen: Army Sgt. Christopher W. Mulalley
3rd Cav soldier dies in Afghanistan
Fort Hood soldier dies in Afghanistan from “non-combat” related incident
An Army Sergeant with two young sons
Soldier from Eureka dies in Afghanistan
Soldier from Northern California dies in Afghanistan
Army Sgt. Christopher Mulalley of Eureka dies in Afghanistan
Eureka Man Christopher W. Mulalley Killed in Afghanistan, Death Under Investigation
Death Of California Soldier In Afghanistan Under Investigation
Sergeant’s Death Under Investigation
Sergeant’s death in Afghanistan under investigation
Body of Eureka soldier returns home through Travis
California soldier’s remains brought home through Travis Air Force Base
3d Cavalry Regiment troops hold memorial for fallen
August: U.S. Department of Defense Casualties Report (2014)
Violent Crime, Suicide, and Non Combat Death at Fort Hood, Texas (US Army)
Tribute To Our Fallen Soldiers – US Army Sgt. Christopher W. Mulalley, 26, of Eureka, California
A new law passed today removes sexual assault investigations and prosecutions from the military chain of command.California has just made a major change in the way sexual assault allegations are investigated in the state military department. On Thursday, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill that requires sexual assault cases to be investigated by outside civilian law enforcement, not by military commanders.
See NBC Bay Area video here.
Related Links:
NBC Bay Area: California National Guard Culture Questioned (November 14, 2012)
NBC Bay Area: California Guard Tries to Serve Firing Papers to Member After Suicide Attempt (June 25, 2013)
NBC Bay Area | Military Women: We Got Fired for Being Raped (August 21, 2014)
Amy Schumer, a comedian, has depicted the unexpected turn your career takes when you become the victim of sexual assault in the military. We are not only harmed by the perpetrator but we are again harmed by the system. And currently we have two proposals in Congress that begin to address the issue. One is the Stop Act sponsored by Representative Jackie Speier. The other is the Military Justice Improvement Act sponsored by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. Please watch the Amy Schumer video here before reading further.
If you keep up with Congressional efforts to address sexual assault in the military, you will find that the media discusses Senator Gillibrand’s Military Justice Improvement Act the most. But what most people do not know is that the MJIA was a compromise to our original efforts. I supported any efforts made by the Senate at the time considering we did not get the support we needed for the Stop Act from either the House of Representatives or military and women organizations. At the time, it was better then nothing and at least Senator Gillibrand addressed an option for our military members who do not report due to fear of retaliation from their Chain of Command. But it is only one element of the big picture.
“What happened to LaVena Lynn Johnson and so many others speaks to a Pentagon culture which more closely resembles a rogue government–than a legitimate branch serving under civilian control. It is highly telling that this family, along with the Tillman family each had to have a documentary film made JUST TO ALERT THE PUBLIC TO THE TRUTH OF PENTAGON COVER-UPS. I urge everyone to view this important documentary–before the local military recruiter mandated under No Child Left Behind–‘friends’ their child at school. God forbid, they could wind up coming home in a body bag–like LaVena.” Read more from Truthout here.
In the News:
Pfc. LaVena Johnson died in Iraq on July 19th, 2005 and her family needs your help. -Unsolved Mysteries (September 26, 2014)
Related Links:
The Johnson Family’s Military Sexual Assault Story
The Silent Truth Documentary | YouTube Movies
The Silent Truth Documentary | Amazon Video
The Silent Truth (FULL DOCUMENTARY)
Army Pfc LaVena Johnson Died of Non Combat Related Injuries in Iraq, Death Ruled Suicide But Autopsy Report Revealed Rape & Murder (2005)
Non Combat Deaths of Female Soldiers in the US Military (Iraq)
Violent Crime, Suicide & Non Combat Death at Fort Campbell, Kentucky (US Army)
Military Policy and Legislation Considerations for the Investigations of Non Combat Death, Homicide, and Suicide of US Service Members
The Silent Truth Documentary aka The LaVena Johnson Murder Cover-Up
PFC LaVena Johnson – Suicide or Murder – Massive Cover Up? The Silent Truth Documentary – Death
What Really Happened to Pat Tillman?
Pat Tillman: The US Army Murder Scandal
The Death of LaVena Johnson (Unsolved Mysteries)
Army Pfc. Tina Priest Died From a Non-Combat Related Incident in Iraq; Death Ruled Suicide But Family Suspects Rape & Murder (March 1, 2006)
Army Pfc. Hannah McKinney Died of Injuries Sustained After She was Hit & Run Over by a Humvee in Iraq; Sgt. Damon Shell Left Her to Die on the Side of the Road (September 4, 2006)
MILITARY JUSTICE FOR ALL 