← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Sertorius
Thread ID: 20248 | Posts: 4 | Started: 2005-09-16
2005-09-16 16:28 | User Profile
Friday, September 16, 2005
Article 32 set for GI accused of killing two officers in Iraq
42nd ID soldier could face death penalty if convicted
By Joseph Giordono, Stars and Stripes Mideast edition, Thursday, September 15, 2005
An Article 32 hearing for a 37-year-old supply sergeant charged with murdering his company commander and operations officer has been set for Monday, officials said Wednesday.
Staff Sgt. Alberto B. Martinez, formerly assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 42nd Infantry Division, will face two charges of premeditated murder during proceedings in a military courtroom on a base near Tikrit.
The June 7 incident, which claimed the lives of Capt. Phillip T. Esposito and 1st Lt. Louis E. Allen, was originally described by the military as an indirect-fire attack on Forward Operating Base Danger, headquarters of the New York National Guard division. A few days later, though, the military said it had opened a criminal investigation.
Charges were brought against Martinez on June 15; he has been held in a military confinement facility in Kuwait since then, officials said. The charges came two days after a memorial service in Tikrit for Esposito and Allen.
Military officials have been tight-lipped in offering a motive for the killings, which shook the division because of accusations that one of their own killed two of their officers. Martinez, 37, from Troy, N.Y., joined the National Guard in 1990 and deployed to Iraq in May 2004, according to military records. He is married and has two children. If convicted, he could face a range of punishments, up to the death penalty.
ââ¬ÅThis is the type of situation that just doesnââ¬â¢t go away,ââ¬Â Command Sgt. Maj. Richard Fearnside, the divisionââ¬â¢s ranking enlisted soldier, told Stars and Stripes three weeks after the incident.
But soldiers throughout the division also said they had refocused on their operations in a region that, as Saddam Husseinââ¬â¢s ancestral home, still harbors its share of insurgents.
The case has widely been referred to as the first incidence in Iraq of ââ¬Åfragging,ââ¬Â military slang for the deliberate killing of a soldierââ¬â¢s own superior officers. But members of the division have bristled at the term, preferring instead to simply call it ââ¬Åmurder.ââ¬Â
Esposito, 30, had been company commander for over a year. Allen, 34, had arrived in Iraq just four days before he died. He had volunteered to come over and help this specific company, division soldiers said.
In interviews earlier this summer, several 42nd ID soldiers said they hoped the criminal charges would answer two standing questions: Why did it happen, and what will be the outcome? é 2003 Stars and Stripes. All Rights Reserved. [url]http://stripes.com/article.asp?article=31591[/url]
2005-09-16 16:52 | User Profile
I think most of us here have read about lots of this sort of thing happening in vietnam...of course there are absolutely NO similarities between iraqistan and vietnam...none! Right Gabby ?!
Okay, maybe a few :jester:
This time, they hate us for our freedums.
2005-09-16 20:53 | User Profile
[u]The case has widely been referred to as the first incidence in Iraq of ââ¬Åfragging,ââ¬Â military slang for the deliberate killing of a soldierââ¬â¢s own superior officers. [/u] [url="http://stripes.com/article.asp?article=31591"]http://stripes.com/article.asp?article=31591[/url][/QUOTE] I guess the reporter who wrote this forgot the very well publicized fragging in the 101st during 2003, where the black NCO/Muslim killed 2 and wounded 14 with a grenade or two. He was due to go to court martial not long ago. I guess that wasn't "in Iraq" since it was in Kuwait . . . but it was the first fragging, and it happened not long after the LD was crossed. [QUOTE] If convicted, he could face a range of punishments, up to the death penalty. [/QUOTE]
I'd be happy to stand on the firing squad and pull the trigger. For the both of them.
AE
2005-09-16 22:20 | User Profile
AE,
You and me both.