Posted on 03/23/2003 5:19:52 AM PST by GailA
U.S. soldier held in attack on 101st
JOHN PARTIPILO / STAFF Soldiers stand guard outside the tents where a fellow member of the 101st Airborne Division is suspected of tossing grenades at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait.
By CHANTAL ESCOTO The (Clarksville) Leaf-Chronicle
CAMP PENNSYLVANIA, Kuwait — An Army sergeant from Fort Campbell was detained as a suspect in a nighttime grenade attack here that killed one soldier from the 101st Airborne Division and injured 13 others, Army officials said.
Three of the injured soldiers were hurt seriously, according to George Heath, a spokesman for the 101st at division headquarters in Clarksville, Tenn. Ten other soldiers were treated for non-life-threatening injuries, Heath said.
''Incidents of this nature are abnormalities throughout the Army, specifically in the 101st,'' Heath said. ''Death is a tragic incident regardless of how it comes, but when it comes from a fellow comrade, it does even more to hurt morale. Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of the soldier. We pray that incidents of this nature do not happen again in any military organization.''
He said he could not release the victim's name because family members had not been notified.
The injuries resulted from fragmentation grenades that went off inside tents at Camp Pennsylvania's First Brigade command center. The incident occurred about 1:15 a.m. Kuwait time Sunday (4:15 p.m. Saturday CST).
The detained sergeant is a member of an engineering platoon that is part of the 101st, said Col. Ben Hodges, commander of the 101st's First Brigade, who was wounded by shrapnel in the arm and leg. The sergeant is an American citizen and a convert to Islam, The New York Times reported.
''I heard a couple of explosions and then a popping sound, which I think was probably a rifle being fired,'' Hodges said. ''It looks like some assailant threw a grenade into each of these three tents here.''
The sergeant was on guard duty and was responsible for looking after munitions, including hand grenades, according to reports at Camp Pennsylvania, which is a staging area not far from the Iraqi border.
''When all this happened, we tried to get accountability for everybody,'' Hodges told Britain's Sky News Television. ''We noticed four hand grenades were missing and that this sergeant was unaccounted for. We started looking for him and found him hiding here in one of these bunkers.''
Max Blumenfeld, spokesman for the Army's V Corps, said the motive most likely was resentment. He did not elaborate. Meanwhile, Time magazine correspondent Jim Lacey told CNN that Army criminal investigators said the soldier recently had been reprimanded for insubordination and was told he would stay behind when his unit left camp for Iraq.
Lacey said he was told that someone lobbed three grenades into the command center and yelled, ''You're under attack.''
Lacey said, ''The carnage inside those tents was pretty severe.'' He was about 20 yards from the blast when it occurred.''
''It's obvious when you hear that someone from here has been injured or harmed, it's a sickening experience to think that it's someone that you know'' who may be responsible, said the Rev. Gerald Baker of the Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Hopkinsville, Ky., whose congregation is 10% active-duty Army. ''You wonder what is wrong with them or what they must have been struggling with.''
The 326th Engineer Battalion, a unit of airborne-trained combat engineers, is part of the 101st and is based at Fort Campbell, and some elements of the 326th are in Kuwait. Reached by phone, Capt. David Storch, the 326th's rear detachment commander in Clarksville, said he could not discuss news reports of the grenade attack.
Two Middle Eastern men who were initially held as suspects in the grenade attack were let go by authorities.
There was much confusion after the explosions, and at one point, a spokesman for Fort Campbell and another spokesman for the 101st at U.S. Central Command in Qatar said officials were seeking two Kuwaiti interpreters in connection with the grenade attack.
A soldier who was near the command center said he saw one of the grenades roll past him before an explosion, The Associated Press reported. Small-arms fire erupted after the blasts.
The incident began with a large blast that sounded like artillery fire. A Scud missile alert was announced, and soldiers emerged from their quarters, some clad only in shorts and shirts.
Some put on their gas masks, which would be standard practice for them in the event of a Scud alert. However, a sergeant then told the soldiers to get back in their tents, take their masks off and instead to ''lock and load'' — the traditional military instruction to load a magazine of ammunition into their rifles and prepare for combat.
The soldiers were advised not to leave their tents after the explosion because of the possibility of small-arms fire.
Lt. David Saur, serving with Bravo Company of the 1st Battalion of the 327th Infantry Regiment, which is part of the 101st, said he heard an explosion and immediately rushed from his tent.
''I grabbed my rifle. I saw the sparks as I looked over at Brigade (headquarters), and went back in to get the rest of my stuff so I could help out,'' Saur said.
The identities of the wounded were unavailable last night.
About an hour after the grenade attack, the Scud missile alert sirens went off again at Camp Pennsylvania and many soldiers got out their gas masks and chemical suits.
A large explosion could then be heard in the background, but it was not clear last night what the explosion was. A few minutes later, CNN reported that a Scud-type missile from Iraq had been shot down near Camp Pennsylvania, perhaps by an American Patriot missile.
Camp Pennsylvania, not far from the Iraqi border, has been home in recent weeks to some units of the 101st Airborne Division from Fort Campbell, such as its First Brigade.
Other units of the 101st, including its Third Brigade, began moving into Iraq on Friday.
After sitting still for a few weeks in the sandy desert, the First Brigade had spent the past couple of days making final preparations for moving into Iraq. Men of the First Battalion of the 327th Infantry Regiment picked up their live ammunition Friday and spent yesterday getting their other supplies ready to move out.
The Associated Press contributed to this report, as did staff writers Ian Demsky, Leon Alligood and Kathy Carlson.
U.S. soldier held in attack on 101st
JOHN PARTIPILO / STAFF Soldiers stand guard outside the tents where a fellow member of the 101st Airborne Division is suspected of tossing grenades at Camp Pennsylvania in Kuwait. http://www.tennessean.com/iraq/101/archives/03/03/30607293.jpg
By CHANTAL ESCOTO The (Clarksville) Leaf-Chronicle
CAMP PENNSYLVANIA, Kuwait — An Army sergeant from Fort Campbell was detained as a suspect in a nighttime grenade attack here that killed one soldier from the 101st Airborne Division and injured 13 others, Army officials said.
Three of the injured soldiers were hurt seriously, according to George Heath, a spokesman for the 101st at division headquarters in Clarksville, Tenn. Ten other soldiers were treated for non-life-threatening injuries, Heath said.
''Incidents of this nature are abnormalities throughout the Army, specifically in the 101st,'' Heath said. ''Death is a tragic incident regardless of how it comes, but when it comes from a fellow comrade, it does even more to hurt morale. Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of the soldier. We pray that incidents of this nature do not happen again in any military organization.''
He said he could not release the victim's name because family members had not been notified.
The injuries resulted from fragmentation grenades that went off inside tents at Camp Pennsylvania's First Brigade command center. The incident occurred about 1:15 a.m. Kuwait time Sunday (4:15 p.m. Saturday CST).
The detained sergeant is a member of an engineering platoon that is part of the 101st, said Col. Ben Hodges, commander of the 101st's First Brigade, who was wounded by shrapnel in the arm and leg. The sergeant is an American citizen and a convert to Islam, The New York Times reported.
''I heard a couple of explosions and then a popping sound, which I think was probably a rifle being fired,'' Hodges said. ''It looks like some assailant threw a grenade into each of these three tents here.''
The sergeant was on guard duty and was responsible for looking after munitions, including hand grenades, according to reports at Camp Pennsylvania, which is a staging area not far from the Iraqi border.
''When all this happened, we tried to get accountability for everybody,'' Hodges told Britain's Sky News Television. ''We noticed four hand grenades were missing and that this sergeant was unaccounted for. We started looking for him and found him hiding here in one of these bunkers.''
Max Blumenfeld, spokesman for the Army's V Corps, said the motive most likely was resentment. He did not elaborate. Meanwhile, Time magazine correspondent Jim Lacey told CNN that Army criminal investigators said the soldier recently had been reprimanded for insubordination and was told he would stay behind when his unit left camp for Iraq.
Lacey said he was told that someone lobbed three grenades into the command center and yelled, ''You're under attack.''
Lacey said, ''The carnage inside those tents was pretty severe.'' He was about 20 yards from the blast when it occurred.''
''It's obvious when you hear that someone from here has been injured or harmed, it's a sickening experience to think that it's someone that you know'' who may be responsible, said the Rev. Gerald Baker of the Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Hopkinsville, Ky., whose congregation is 10% active-duty Army. ''You wonder what is wrong with them or what they must have been struggling with.''
The 326th Engineer Battalion, a unit of airborne-trained combat engineers, is part of the 101st and is based at Fort Campbell, and some elements of the 326th are in Kuwait. Reached by phone, Capt. David Storch, the 326th's rear detachment commander in Clarksville, said he could not discuss news reports of the grenade attack.
Two Middle Eastern men who were initially held as suspects in the grenade attack were let go by authorities.
There was much confusion after the explosions, and at one point, a spokesman for Fort Campbell and another spokesman for the 101st at U.S. Central Command in Qatar said officials were seeking two Kuwaiti interpreters in connection with the grenade attack.
A soldier who was near the command center said he saw one of the grenades roll past him before an explosion, The Associated Press reported. Small-arms fire erupted after the blasts.
The incident began with a large blast that sounded like artillery fire. A Scud missile alert was announced, and soldiers emerged from their quarters, some clad only in shorts and shirts.
Some put on their gas masks, which would be standard practice for them in the event of a Scud alert. However, a sergeant then told the soldiers to get back in their tents, take their masks off and instead to ''lock and load'' — the traditional military instruction to load a magazine of ammunition into their rifles and prepare for combat.
The soldiers were advised not to leave their tents after the explosion because of the possibility of small-arms fire.
Lt. David Saur, serving with Bravo Company of the 1st Battalion of the 327th Infantry Regiment, which is part of the 101st, said he heard an explosion and immediately rushed from his tent.
''I grabbed my rifle. I saw the sparks as I looked over at Brigade (headquarters), and went back in to get the rest of my stuff so I could help out,'' Saur said.
The identities of the wounded were unavailable last night.
About an hour after the grenade attack, the Scud missile alert sirens went off again at Camp Pennsylvania and many soldiers got out their gas masks and chemical suits.
A large explosion could then be heard in the background, but it was not clear last night what the explosion was. A few minutes later, CNN reported that a Scud-type missile from Iraq had been shot down near Camp Pennsylvania, perhaps by an American Patriot missile.
Camp Pennsylvania, not far from the Iraqi border, has been home in recent weeks to some units of the 101st Airborne Division from Fort Campbell, such as its First Brigade.
Other units of the 101st, including its Third Brigade, began moving into Iraq on Friday.
After sitting still for a few weeks in the sandy desert, the First Brigade had spent the past couple of days making final preparations for moving into Iraq. Men of the First Battalion of the 327th Infantry Regiment picked up their live ammunition Friday and spent yesterday getting their other supplies ready to move out.
The Associated Press contributed to this report, as did staff writers Ian Demsky, Leon Alligood and Kathy Carlson.
When, Oh! When Will All This Stupid PC Stuff End?
All accounts I have seen and read indicate that he was a failing soldier ("going sideways" is a phrase I use to describe his apparent behavior), was "acting strangely," had been recently disciplined and would not be allowed to go north with the 101st Airborne when they moved into Iraq.
His being black and a Muslim convert probably had something to do with this murder, but primarily, it was his extreme anti-social behavior that got him in trouble.
So, to "even the score," he "fragged" some of his officers.
Murder One. Court Martial. Firing Squad. End of story.
But it probably won't go down that way. SIGH!
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