Fort Campbell Army Sgt. Tracy Birkman Died of Non-Combat Related Injuries in Owesat, Iraq (January 25, 2008)

On January 25, 2008September 13, 2019 By AdministratorIn Armed Forces, Army, In Their Name, Military Policy, Non Combat Death, Suspicious DeathsLeave a comment

Army Sgt. Tracy Birkman, 41, died from non combat related injuries in Owesat, Iraq on January 25, 2008. Sgt. Birkman was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom on behalf of the 626th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Fort Campbell in Kentucky. At the time of the Department of Defense press release, the incident was under investigation which is typical of non combat death. But the official cause of death is unknown.

Birkman’s father, Jerald Griffith, a Vietnam War veteran, said he was angry with military officials for releasing information about his daughter’s death and with the news media for its portrayal of soldiers such as himself. “I didn’t want it released. I am so [furious] about all this I can just scream,” said Griffith, also of New Castle. “I hate the media with just an unmitigated passion. You . . . lied about me when I was in Vietnam.” He said his daughter was on her third deployment.” She’s over there in a war we shouldn’t even be involved in, on her third tour,” Griffith said. –The Washington Post (January 29, 2008)

Fort Drum Army Captain (Dr.) Roselle Hoffmaster Died of Injuries Sustained from a Non-Combat Related Incident in Kirkuk, Iraq (September 20, 2007)

On September 20, 2007September 20, 2020 By AdministratorIn Armed Forces, Army, In Their Name, Military Policy, Non Combat Death, Suicide, Suspicious DeathsLeave a comment

Army Captain (Dr.) Roselle Hoffmaster, 32, died of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident on September 20, 2007 in Kirkuk, Iraq. Captain Hoffmaster was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom on behalf of the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division in Fort Drum, New York. At the time of the Department of Defense press release, the circumstances surrounding her death were under investigation. Media reports indicate the Army ruled Captain Hoffmaster’s death a suicide by self-inflicted gunshot wound but her family questions the cause of death ruling.

“Hoffmaster’s parents, whose names were also redacted, said their daughter had a learning disability that made it difficult for her to do mechanical tasks, despite her high IQ. They and other family members said she gave no hint of being anxious or depressed and that they did not believe she would take her own life…A civilian doctor who had treated Hoffmaster for depression in the U.S. told investigators that she seemed happy in her marriage and her life and never indicated that she had contemplated suicide.” –MassLive.com (January 21, 2009)

NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams Featured ‘The Other PTSD: Sexual Abuse of Women in the Military’ (May 4, 2007)

On May 4, 2007February 23, 2019 By AdministratorIn Armed Forces, Army, Felony Crime, In Their Name, Medical, Military Policy, Navy, PTSD, TBI, Mental Illness, Scandals, Sexual Assault, Suicide, USAF, USCG, USMC, VeteransLeave a comment

The Other PTSD: Sexual Abuse of Women in the Military, NBC Nightly News (May 4, 2007)

“All the stories you hear about women not doing anything about it and crawling into their own little hole and hiding from it and not talking about it — I always thought, ‘Well, that’s ridiculous. If it happens to me, I’m gonna be out there,” Tina says. “That’s not what I did at all. I hid and I didn’t talk about it.” –NBC Nightly News

Army Soldier Katherine ‘Kat’ Singleton Died in Iraq; Department of Defense Did Not Publish Press Release Notifying Public of Death (2006)

On January 18, 2006January 7, 2018 By AdministratorIn Armed Forces, Army, Cold Cases, In Their Name, Military Policy, ScandalsLeave a comment

Screen Shot 2018-01-06 at 9.56.47 PM — Katherine Singleton, US Army

The parents of Army soldier Katherine ‘Kat’ Singleton, 25, confirmed that she died in Iraq on January 18, 2006 but did not wish to comment further. Kat Singleton’s home of record is listed as Pensacola, Florida and she enlisted in the Army’s Delayed Entry Program in 2001. Singleton worked as a 15F10 (MOS) and was assigned to the HHC Training Support Battalion at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Singleton’s first deployment to Iraq was with the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky from March 2003 to May 2003 (not confirmed). The Department of Defense did not publish a press release notifying the public of Katherine Singleton’s cause of death in Iraq. As a matter of fact, no credible information is available on the web except in an obituary.

HER FRIEND’S LAST WORDS AND REQUEST:

“I just want to let you know that there is no need to yell “cover up” in this case. The death of Kat P. Singleton was kept private for reasons that are no one’s business, but I assure you she is dead and that the government didn’t hide things from the public. She didn’t die overseas and what happened was very tragic but not for the public eye. She was a brave soldier who said on many occasions that she never regretted enrolling in the army and would go back to Iraq to fight for her country to secure our freedoms over and over again. She was a wonderful person and I am glad that our lives touched. I am sending this article that most of you seem to have over looked so that you may see that she is dead and she is buried. I feel that her father said little to the press because he didn’t want the world to know his family business and I believe also that it is time for you to close this thread and let Kat rest in peace. She will be forever loved and missed deeply and never forgotten.” -Anonymous

Chicago Tribune Published ‘In War Without Front Lines, Women GIs Caught in Chaos’ (March 11, 2004)

On March 11, 2004March 6, 2019 By AdministratorIn Accidents, Armed Forces, Army, In Their Name, Military Policy, Navy, Non Combat Death, Suicide, USAF, USCG, USMCLeave a comment

Xatavia Hughes, an Iraqi war vet is looking for a safer neighborhood for herself and two sons. She is in her current home in the Englewood neighborhood on Nov. 6, 2013. -Chicago Tribune (December 2, 2013)

“One woman saw the military as a stop along the path of higher education. The other saw service as a road out of poverty. They enlisted in what’s typically thought of as a man’s world, and they both died in it. When Pfc. Nichole Frye’s convoy was attacked with a roadside bomb in Baqouba, Iraq, in February, she became the 15th servicewoman to die in the Iraq war, equaling the official number of female soldiers killed in the 1991 Persian Gulf war. When Capt. Gussie Jones, 41, died Sunday of a heart attack in the Baghdad hospital where she served as an Army surgical nurse, that gulf war total was officially surpassed. The conflict in Iraq now has the designation of claiming the lives of more U.S. servicewomen than any hostile theater since World War II, according to Department of Defense statistics. The stories of women like Frye and Jones–what drew them to the military and how they died in that service–reveal much about the role of American military women in Iraq.” -Chicago Tribune (March 11, 2004)

Read more ‘In War Without Front Lines, Women GIs Caught in Chaos’ from the Chicago Tribune here.

Fort Carson Army Sgt. Melissa Valles Died of a Non-Combat Gunshot Wound While Deployed in Balad, Iraq (July 9, 2003)

On July 9, 2003July 3, 2018 By AdministratorIn Armed Forces, Army, In Their Name, Military Policy, Non Combat Death, SuicideLeave a comment

MELSSA VALLES — Sgt. Melissa Valles, US Army

Army Sgt. Melissa Valles, 26, died on July 9, 2003 of a non-combat injury in Balad, Iraq. Sgt. Valles was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) on behalf of the B Company, 64^th Forward Support Battalion in Fort Carson, Colorado. At the time of the press release, the incident was under investigation. Military officials told her mother she died from a noncombat gunshot wound to her abdomen. Sgt. Valles was the first woman soldier from Texas killed in Iraq and left behind an eight-year-old son.

Sixteen months have passed since Army Sgt. Melissa Valles gave her life for her country. Still, the pain, anger and unanswered questions persist for the Eagle Pass, Texas, native’s grieving mother and siblings. “We’re still looking for some answers. We’re still trying to find out what really happened,” said Fernando Valles Jr., one of the soldier’s two older brothers. –My Plainview

MILITARY JUSTICE FOR ALL

Tag: Women in Combat

NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams Featured ‘The Other PTSD: Sexual Abuse of Women in the Military’ (May 4, 2007)

Army Soldier Katherine ‘Kat’ Singleton Died in Iraq; Department of Defense Did Not Publish Press Release Notifying Public of Death (2006)

Chicago Tribune Published ‘In War Without Front Lines, Women GIs Caught in Chaos’ (March 11, 2004)

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: