Posted on 03/13/2004 4:15:18 PM PST by twas
For almost 10 months, Esther Macklin sought answers to the most basic of questions: How and why did her son, Pvt. David Evans Jr., die?
She knew he was killed May 25 in an explosion at an Iraqi munitions dump he was guarding.
But Friday, she learned how: through horseplay by fellow soldiers.
One of two soldiers entering a building full of munitions lighted some fuse bundles, and that set off a series of explosions. Evans was killed instantly, and one of the two surviving soldiers now faces homicide and manslaughter charges in his death.
Macklin showed conflicting emotions Friday as she sat at a conference table in True Bethel Baptist Church, fielding questions and speaking in hushed tones about her reaction to the news.
She was pleased that the truth finally had come out. She felt bad for the two other soldiers involved, but she agreed with the serious charges already leveled at one.
And she was shattered by the news that horseplay had killed her son.
"I'm just devastated at the actual truth," she said. "I just can't believe that these kids were trained to be men - a high responsibility - and yet they're doing childish things.
"They should have known better," she added. "They were trained military people. There's no room for that kind of goofing off. Sad but true, I think they should be charged."
Could she ever forgive them?
"I'm sure, with the strength of God and my pastor, I will," she said, in the presence of the Rev. Darius G. Pridgen, pastor of True Bethel Baptist.
The lighting of the fuse bundles, according to what Evans' family heard Friday, set off a shooting gallery of explosions that killed the 18-year-old soldier from Buffalo.
"Your son did not suffer," Army Col. John A. Simpson Jr., garrison commander at Fort Riley, Kan., told Macklin. "We believe he was killed in the second explosion. We don't know how or when or why, but we know it was catastrophic."
Macklin found some consolation in that news.
"That is a relief," she told reporters.
Macklin's comments came after an almost hourlong presentation by Simpson about the death of Evans, the third of six Western New York soldiers to die in the Iraq war.
"We found that it was a tragic accident, but it was due to negligence," Simpson told Evans' family, including his father, David Evans Sr., and at least one of his sisters, Tijuana.
Simpson was among four high-ranking Army officials from Fort Riley and two others from the Defense Department who came to Buffalo on Friday to present the findings of their almost 10-month investigation.
Probes lead to charges
The twin investigations, in Iraq and back home, have led to charges of involuntary manslaughter, negligent homicide and four other charges against Spec. Benjamin Hathaway of Fort Riley, Kan., Army investigators said.
"It's sad that a tragic accident took your son's life," Simpson told Macklin. "(His fellow soldiers) were well-trained. They were a good unit. Why they did that, I don't know, ma'am."
Simpson did suggest one possible theory, questioning whether the soldiers had lighted the bundles as a way to break the monotony amid the stress of wartime.
But he quickly added: "I don't want to speculate why. They're at war. I don't know."
Maj. Jeffrey Buczkowski, public affairs officer from Fort Riley and a Buffalo native, said investigators still are trying to determine what role the second soldier had in the lighting of the bundles.
"The truth is, they shouldn't have been playing with the ammunition," he said. "They were ordered not to, and they were trained not to."
After praising Evans as a great soldier who went willingly to his mission with the 977th Military Police Company, Simpson patiently recounted the events of the morning of May 25 at the munitions dump in Ad Diwaniyah, south of Baghdad.
What happened
It was breakfast time, and between eating their rations and cleaning up, the three soldiers who entered the munitions building were not wearing their body armor. The partially caved-in building contained everything from artillery rounds and other large projectiles to single bullets.
One soldier picked up three bundles of unexploded fuses, something that they're explicitly trained not to do, Simpson said. Then one soldier suggested that the other light it.
One of the two soldiers lighted the bundle. It went out, and one of them lighted it again.
That lighting led to a chain reaction and a large explosion that sent Evans and the other two soldiers running and diving for cover. The second explosion apparently killed him.
"It was worse than ground combat, because projectiles were flying through the air," Simpson said. "Bullets were whizzing by at all different locations."
One of the other two soldiers suffered a major head wound; the other escaped with no serious injuries. With shrapnel still falling from the sky and unexploded ordnance still hampering the rescue and search efforts, several attempts to find Evans were unsuccessful.
About eight hours after the initial explosion, Evans' body was discovered.
"We lost a great American," Simpson said. "We lost a great soldier."
Macklin, frequently pulling out tissues during the recounting of her son's death, thanked the investigators for their thoroughness and for coming to Buffalo.
Speaking in a tone barely above a whisper, as family members and reporters leaned closer to hear, Macklin turned to Simpson and said, "I need to find some closure with this, and I don't have it today."
The hourlong meeting with Army officials began with a brief clash between two factions of the family that have been arguing about Evans' son, now 13 months old. Macklin asked several people to leave, and they did. But after a prayerful meeting with Pridgen, Macklin let them return.
"This is a mom who has lost her son and is hurting like all get-out," Pridgen explained. "Sometimes we do react like that when we lose a child or anyone close to us."
Tijuana ?
Army Col. John A. Simpson Jr., garrison commander at Fort Riley, Kan., suggest[ed] one possible theory, questioning whether the soldiers had lighted the bundles as a way to break the monotony amid the stress of wartime.
Give me a break! Next, we're going to have to assign grief counselors and stress management therepists to each combat unit. As if quarterly "sensitivity training" wasn't enough.
"We found that it was a tragic accident, but it was due to negligence," Simpson told Macklin. "(His fellow soldiers) were well-trained. They were a good unit. Why they did that, I don't know, ma'am."
This was no accident; negligence had nothing to do with it. This was a mishap caused by the improper acts of undiciplined soldiers. Obviously, they were not well-trained and not a good unit. If they were, these men would not be dead.
I'm familiar with artillery/mortar fuses but I'm not familiar with any type that could be bundled and "lit"- any EOD types want to chime in?
Uhhh... he was a great soldier based on what criteria? None is mentioned (unless dying automatically makes one great). From the article, it would appear that Evans was with the two guys that set the fire and caused the explosion. If so, then at best he did not stop them, and at worst, he was complicit in their actions.
Um................misinterpreted? Do I care?
Typical crap question from a Liberal reporter.
Speaking of which, I remember when this explosion was first reported. The Leftist news organizations could barely mask their glee as they danced around the dead and chalked up more losses to the US military operation in Iraq. "When are we going to stop bringing our boys home in body bags," they collectively questioned. Now the truth is out that this had nothing to do with the combat.
I can see we need to get you scheduled for some, "I really do f*****'n care!" training.
Stay tuna'd, your notice is in the mail.
LVM
One of the two soldiers lighted the bundle. It went out, and one of them lighted it again.
What the hell were they thinking?
Where are the editors nowadays...? One of the soldiers lit the bundle
Beg to differ, SG. You said it all in your very next sentence.
I'm not trying to be a butt here, BUT the very definition of "negligence" happens to be.......
1 a : the quality or state of being negligent b : failure to exercise the care that a prudent person usually exercises
What would you call lighting off fuses in close proximity to other munitions?
Prudent?
Discipline - or lack of - certainly came into play here, but what they did was just plain stupid. What, they did not know any better? Discipline does not make one smart. You have to have common sense to start with. Something that was lacking here.
LVM
Lighted? Lighted? The word is lit!
I know it's a measly gripe, but this irritates me. Like when they use "pleaded guilty" instead of "pled guilty". Grrrrr!
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