Posted on 06/20/2006 1:47:14 PM PDT by blam
Missing Soldier's Uncle Criticizes U.S.
By LYNN BREZOSKY
BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) - As the families of two missing soldiers waited to hear if two bodies found Tuesday were their loved ones, the uncle of one lashed out at the government, saying it didn't do enough to bring the men home safe.
``Because the U.S. government did not have a plan in place, my nephew has paid for it with his life,'' Ken MacKenzie, uncle of Army Pfc. Kristian Menchaca, told NBC's ``Today'' show.
U.S. Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said the military has recovered what are believed to be the remains of two missing soldiers, but he said the cause of death was ``undeterminable at this point.'' Menchaca's family said they had been told that DNA testing was under way.
Menchaca's mother, Maria Vasquez, was sobbing when she answered the door of her Brownsville, Texas, home.
Her niece, Felipa Gomez, was with her and said a U.S. military official had told them it could take several hours to complete DNA tests to confirm the bodies' identities. She said the family had been watching television news reports of the Iraqi military announcement.
The first report that the soldiers had been found came from Iraqi Maj. Gen. Abdul-Aziz Mohammed, who announced that the bodies of Menchaca, 23, of Houston, and Army Pfc. Thomas Lowell Tucker, 25, of Madras, Ore., had been discovered on a street in Youssifiyah, just south of Baghdad.
The two soldiers had been manning checkpoints when they were attacked Friday, and another soldier with them was killed.
A group that includes al-Qaida in Iraq claimed Monday it had kidnapped the two soldiers, but it did not name them and the U.S. military was skeptical of the claim. The group posted another statement found on the Internet Tuesday saying it had killed the two.
``I think the U.S. government was too slow to react to this,'' MacKenzie said Tuesday. ``They should have had a plan in place.''
MacKenzie said the government should have offered a $100 million reward and offered to exchange mujahideen detainees for the soldiers' lives. The government seized enough money from Saddam Hussein to afford it, he said.
The military has said more than 8,000 U.S. and Iraqi troops were searching for the missing men.
In Tucker's hometown in Oregon, yellow ribbons adorn the trees and store reader boards offer prayers of hope for his safe return.
A spokesman for the Tucker family, Oregon National Guard Sgt. Randy Everett, said Tuesday they had not heard any specifics from the military but that they were expecting the worst.
Tucker's relatives declined interviews but released the text of a phone message Monday that Tucker recently left on an answering machine, telling his mother to be proud of him.
``I'm defending my country,'' Tucker says on the recording. ``Tell sis and my nephews hello for me, I'm OK, I'm on my way.''
The family said in a statement Monday that their son had joined the military because he wanted to ``do something positive.'' They also sent their sympathy to the family of Spc. David J. Babineau, 25, of Springfield, Mass., who was killed in the attack.
Lyndsay Kowaleski, a high school classmate of Tucker's, described ``a sense of helplessness'' after learning Tucker was missing.
``Our hearts are broken with our friend being in this situation,'' she said.
I heard of this.. the unlce was against him going to the war before that.. and wadda you know... MSM has him front and center!
Military families ought to lead the rest of us down to AP, NYT, etc. to deal out a little frontier justice. I'm in the mood.
How about his second grade PE teacher?
I suppose he has a right to complain. The grief may be too overwhelming...in a situation like that, I too would be mad.
However, I dunno if a 'plan' being put in place would've saved them. Anyone who gets captured by these thugs will either be let go or killed, depending on the captor's whims.
Straight from the DNC talking points.
(Of course there are rules. These rules mst be followed)
Nothing yet from the soldier's third cousin once removed?
Very sad to lose those two young soldiers, I pray for their families. Rather strange that the Today Show was so quick to present an aggrieved relative, shabby behavior on the "uncles" part, where are the parents on this issue? In any event, a terrible loss of our brave troops.
A really smart idea. If your intent is to replicate the event with other soldiers.
If that cousin is an anti-war lib, you will here from him / her soon. Rest assured.
A freeper on another thread said that the family has come out and said that he does not speak for the family, that Kristian was proud of his service.
The MSM is evil.
Its really easy if you gumption.
Yes, this has worked *SO* well in the past we should definitely do that. /sarc
next up the Mackenzie and Sheehan show
Well that's just great. The RAT media had to go to an Uncle to find a US-basher, but they found him, and by god(less), they're gonna use him!
and - how the he11 does he know if there was a plan in place or not?
Yep, statistically, everybody has a crazy uncle or other kin.
They ignore the 90 supportive family members and ask the 1 idiot.
Friggin media knocking on these peoples doors within hours of getting the worst news in their lives??? They scream about 2500 soldiers dead, then why aren't there thousands of family members out there saying these things. Instead, the've dug up about 2-3 dozen , at the most, who are willing to nationalize their grief the way the media expects.
Makes me wanna puke!
The bodies must have been horribly mutilated to have to do the id via DNA. Maybe burned beyond recognition?
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