Posted on 05/22/2005 2:35:07 PM PDT by Former Military Chick
In his 20 years in the military, Lt. Col. Tim Gardipee of Missoula has served combat tours in Somalia, Bosnia and Kosovo.
But Gardipee says one of the most difficult and emotionally trying duties he has been assigned by the U.S. Army came last month at Fort Bragg, N.C.
The Army Reserve officer was selected from a pool of officers at Fort Bragg to serve on the court-martial jury in the trial of Sgt. Hasan Akbar, who was convicted of the premeditated murder of two fellow American soldiers and wounding of 14 others, at just past midnight March 23, 2003, in Kuwait.
Akbar was accused of a brutal grenade and rifle attack on the soldiers of the 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division, who were sleeping in their tents on the eve of the launch of combat operations into Iraq.
After rolling grenades into the tents, Akbar, a Muslim, was reported to have shouted, "You guys are coming into our countries, and you're going to rape our women and kill our children."
Akbar has been sentenced to death for the crime.
Gardipee, a native of Chinook and 1986 graduate of the University of Montana, was commissioned through UM's ROTC department and served 10 years of active duty as a paratrooper.
He's been in the Army Reserve for the past 10 years and is a member of the Helena-based 652 Area Support Group. He was sent to Fort Bragg in May 2004, when his unit was mobilized because of the war in Iraq.
At Fort Bragg, Gardipee serves as senior operations officer of its mobilization station, which prepares U.S. troops for duty in Iraq. In that capacity, he says, he oversees training of thousands of National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers.
In a telephone interview last week, Gardipee talked about Akbar's trial and his jury service. He'd never served on a court-martial jury panel before the trial, which began April 4 and continued through April 28.
"It was long and tedious," he says. And intense.
"It was emotional listening to a lot of the victims and victims' families," Gardipee says. "I could relate to some of the soldiers, having been in headquarters like that, and knowing the stress they were under on the eve of a major combat operation. Then they had to be subjected to an attack by a fellow soldier."
The attack delayed the brigade's move by 72 hours, according to Gardipee, and caused many tactical problems for the U.S. troops.
Although the court-martial jury was instructed that they didn't have to consider Akbar's motive, Gardipee says evidence showed several possible contributing factors.
Akbar kept a journal, he says, which the jury was asked to read.
"I spent about six hours reading it," Gardipee says. "The defense did claim mental illness. He did have, the term was he was socially awkward. He had problems relating to people, problems finishing school. There were a lot of things about him that he had problems with in his life. I don't know if he even knows, inside, what made him do it. He had his own motivations. There were indications in his journal that he was maladjusted. I thought it could have been some political or religious things because he was a Muslim. That came out in the trial. It's hard to fathom that another soldier would attack other soldiers like that."
The trial received heavy media coverage nationwide, and Gardipee says dealing with the press was difficult for jury members.
"The department was full of media," he says. "TV vans were waiting outside every day. We had to use a separate parking lot and separate entrance, so we wouldn't be inundated with the media. Of course, we were told not to speak to anybody, or discuss the trial, or read anything about it. So we had to stay away from any news about it. It was a feeling of isolation for several weeks, because we couldn't discuss it with our co-workers."
The jury panel listened to testimony for seven or eight hours a day throughout the trial, he adds.
There was no doubt about Akbar's guilt, Gardipee says.
"The prosecution did a good job of presenting hundreds, if not thousands, of pieces of evidence," he says. "And that unit did a good job of preserving and documenting what happened in the attack."
Akbar's death sentence will be automatically appealed, according to Gardipee, and ultimately it will be up to President Bush to issue the execution order.
Gardipee and other members of the reserves who were called up in May 2004 were supposed to finish their tour of duty and return home after one year. But their tour was extended another year, until May 2006, he says.
"They didn't have a replacement plan," he says. "So we have to stay."
He'll remain at Fort Bragg for the duration of that time.
When not on duty in the Army Reserves, Gardipee works for the U.S. Postal Service at the main mail processing station in Missoula. He also operates a bison ranch west of town.
He's been able to return to Missoula on short leaves - in March and again a few weeks ago, after the trial. And depending on his work load at Fort Bragg, he says, he'll be able to come back home occasionally in the next year.
But separation from his family - his wife, Florence Marie, and daughters, Jasmine, 16, Juanita, 15, and Jade, 12 - has been difficult, Gardipee says.
"It's tough," he says. "We've gone through this before. The worst was when I had to go to Korea for a year when the kids were little. They're grown now, so their needs are different."
Reporter Daryl Gadbow can be reached at 523-5264 or at dgadbow@missoulian.com
Akbar's death sentence will be automatically appealed, according to Gardipee, and ultimately it will be up to President Bush to issue the execution order.
Must have been tough reading the journal. In the end Justice was served by the jury, now the appeals and finally the order which I have no doubt will be signed by a republican President, not sure if it would be should a democrat have to sign the order.
OK, just speculation.
FOLLOW - UP **PING**
Interesting perspective from a juror who rendered the verdict.
You are right.
What is needed from General Officers and elected Presidents is the resolve to impose penalties prescribed by law, as opposed to "letting things go".
I don't want to sound critical, but this sounds like the Army I know and love! Their procedures for mobilizing reservists could stand some modernization -- I think that's widely acknowledged.
I'm often critical of the press. This time, I think the reporter has written a real good story -- I'm glad he took the time to think about the jury and get this interview.
Very slow justice, but justice nonetheless.
Job well done Lt Col Gardipee.....
I don't understand why so many freepers seem angry or suspicious about the way the military has handled this. I think I've read dozens of comments from freepers who speculate that military leaders don't have the guts or courage or something else to impose the death sentence in this case.
Have some faith, okay? The military takes this very seriously, and there's no indication that any of them, from Generals on down, aren't going to fully pursue the death penalty. (I can't say the same for civilian judges who will get involved in appeals later on, or for whoever might be President in the future.)
I think sometimes people are impatient, and want very quick justice. This country wouldn't be what it is, if we grabbed a rope and dispensed with courts. It looks like they did a good job on this case--but then, what do I know...
What I find apparent is the lack of any mention of "hate crime" by the media, whether racial or religious. Don't know if the military code has anything that covers it, but it's easy to understand their hesitance to do so.
Very well said 68. We don't agree on other issues, but certainly on this one.
Have to say that the military justice moves a long more swiftly but I can not say that for certainty just an observation so I am PINGING beloved (No Longer Free State) to offer his 2 cents on the matter.
Thanks for the ping, FMC. I understand what he went through, and hopefully this points out that officers who serve in the cause of military justice are humans first and foremost. Good read.
You always call them like you see them and I agree with you on 68s comment.
Justice is slow but it sounds like it's happening here.
Thanks, FMC. I couldn't have said it any better than 68 did.
they need to add muslims to the list of those that cannot serve in the US military. how can we be that desparate?
Let the old guys enlist , more better....
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