Second Officer Dies From Grenade Attack

New York Times ^ | 3/26/03 | AP

[kattracks]

BOISE, Idaho (AP) -- A second U.S. serviceman has died from wounds he suffered in a grenade attack on soldiers in Kuwait, an attack an Army sergeant is suspected of carrying out.

Air Force Maj. Gregory Stone, 40, based in Boise, was pronounced dead early Tuesday at an Army field hospital in Kuwait, the Idaho Air National Guard said. Capt. Christopher Scott Seifert, 27, of Easton, Pa., also was killed in Saturday's attack, and 14 other soldiers were injured.

Sgt. Asan Akbar is in custody. He was shipped to a military jail in Germany on Tuesday after a judge found probable cause to try him for the assault. The probable cause ruling keeps Akbar confined as military investigators continue to investigate.

Akbar, an American Muslim who told family members he was wary of going to war in Iraq, has not been charged.

The Army said Akbar was taken from Camp Doha, Kuwait, to the Mannheim Confinement Facility, where he will await a pretrial investigation. It was not clear where that would take place.

Akbar was taken into custody Sunday, shortly after explosions rocked several tents at Camp Pennsylvania, the Kuwaiti headquarters of the 101st Airborne Division's 1st Brigade.

``It appears that the explosions were the result of three grenades that were thrown or rolled through the front door of each of these three tents,'' said a statement from Fort Campbell, Ky., home of the 101st.

Army investigators will complete a report and send it to Akbar's superiors, said Marc Raimondi, a spokesman for the Army's Criminal Investigation Division in Virginia.

Before the latest death, military experts said Akbar could face one charge of intentional murder and additional charges of attempted murder for the wounded soldiers.

Eugene Fidell, a Washington lawyer and founder of the National Institute of Military Justice, said the crime could warrant the death penalty, which is rare in the military.

There are six people on the military's death row, but there have been no military executions since 1961.

Lt. Col. Tim Marsano, spokesman for the Idaho Air National Guard, said Stone, a 20-year active and reserve veteran of the Air Force, was the Air Liaison Officer with the Army's 101st Airborne Division at Camp Pennsylvania.

Stone graduated from Benson High School in Portland, Ore., and Oregon State University. He enlisted in 1983, went through the ROTC program at Oregon State and was commissioned in 1988.

Stone had two sons, ages 11 and 7, who live in Boise.

``He was wonderful, the best son anybody could ask for,'' said his stepmother, Sally Stone of Riggins, Idaho. Stone's mother, Betty Lenzi of Ontario, Ore., said she was too upset to talk.

The slain man's father, Richard Stone of Riggins, Idaho, told television station KIVI that his last contact with his son was through an e-mail Saturday. In it, Stone said things were going well and that he was a little nervous but ready for the mission.

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On the Net:

Idaho Air National Guard: http://www.idaho.ang.af.mil

[BobP]

The US Army should fry the fragger

[KantianBurke]

Bush might not allow the death penalty to be introduced. More bad press ya know

[Conspiracy Guy]

It's a military issue with much precedent. Bush will not interfere. Two deaths, the dude is toast.

[Catspaw]

Sadly, they can only execute him once.

[FreedomPoster]

The questions I keep asking related to this story:

Does the military allow known KKK or Stormfront members to remain in the military, or do they get booted? Hopefully the latter.

If the latter, why do we allow NoI / Farrakan followers to remain?

[Thunder 6]

They are normally "chaptered" out of the military...if their association with those groups comes to the attention of the chain of command.