507th families upset

El Paso Times ^ | Thursday, July 10, 2003 | Laura Cruz

[FryingPan101]

The families of at least three of the soldiers who died in the March 23 ambush of Fort Bliss' 507th Maintenance Company said they haven't been told the details of their loved one's deaths.

But the Army said it has finished telling the families of the fallen soldiers about the attack that claimed nine lives in the Iraqi desert.

Randy Kiehl, father of Spc. James Kiehl of Comfort, Texas; Arlene Walters, mother of Sgt. Donald R. Walters of Salem, Ore.; and Roxane Dowdy, sister of Master Sgt. Robert J. Dowdy of Cleveland, said they are upset with the way the Army is handling those parents and family members who are not listed as the primary next of kin of the soldiers who died.

"The military has told my daughter-in-law, but she couldn't go through with telling me what the report said. She started crying less than half way through it," Randy Kiehl said in a telephone interview from his home in Comfort. "I told her 'No, hon, you don't have to finish it.' "

Randy Kiehl, who served three years in the Army, said "I'm ashamed of the way this was handled."

Amalia Estrella, mother of Pvt. Ruben Estrella-Soto, was briefed June 27, and said that while making arrangements with the Army she was asked for the names of the people who would be with her and her husband.

"They did not restrict me in any way as to who I could have there with me," she said. "I think it's a shame that the spouses didn't arrange for the parents to be there. A wife can remarry, but a mother can't replace a child even if she gives birth to a thousand children. That piece of her heart will always be missing."

Nancili Mata, widow of Chief Warrant Officer 2 Johnny Villareal Mata, said when she was making arrangements to be briefed June 26 by the Army, she asked her in-laws to be with her.

"It was very hard because they are giving you every detail. We cried a lot together," she said. "It was difficult because I saw him going through the experience not knowing he was going to die, and I was going through the experience with him knowing he was going to die."

Roxane Dowdy said the Army's priority is still upsetting because she doesn't believe the military understands that a spouse is going through a traumatic event and can't always make clear decisions.

"My brother's wife knows everything and we don't, but we're not going to press her because she is going through a hard time like we are," she said.

Kiehl said Brig. Gen. Howard Bromberg, commander of the 32nd Army Air and Missile Defense Command, called him Friday and promised to call him later to arrange a meeting with him and his wife, Janie Kiehl. But Bromberg has not called back, he said.

"He truly intends to call him. Gen. Bromberg just got back from notifying the next of kin," Fort Bliss spokeswoman Jean Offutt said. "The priority for the Army was to make sure the primary next of kin are notified. There was no way they could give the briefing to every family member."

Although some family members will not be briefed by the team that performed the investigation, Offutt said the Army is willing to answer any questions they have.

For Arlene Walters, the Army's policies are "just unbelievable."

"What's frustrating is that my husband is retired from the Air Force. And he wasn't just in it, he was in for 20 years," she said. "I'm not going to get on my hands and knees for information that I have a right to. There's got to be some changes made to the way they treat the parents."

[boxerblues]

While Im truly sorry for the families involved in this.

After having to take family members to court to determine exactly who is next of kin involving my own father in law.

The next of kin issue get clear, when the son marries his wife becomes his next of kin and then his kids if any, if he never married then his parents then his/her siblings are his next of kin.

If the wife of this soldier cannot bring herself to tell the rest of his family she should have someone very close to her do it as difficult as it may be.

[Support Free Republic]

50,000 people go to a baseball game, but the game was rained out. A refund is then due. The team is about to mail refunds when the Congressional Democrats stopps them and decrees that they send out refund amounts based on the Democrat National Committee's interpretation of fairness. After all,if the refunds are made based on the price each person paid for the tickets, most of the money would go to the wealthiest ticket holders. That would be unconscionable!

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[joesnuffy]

Military Corruption.com

Perhaps these former officers could help get the word out

[Prodigal Son]

It sounds like the gripe here out to be laid with the family members. The Army did give a briefing. What the next of kin does with that information is up to them.

[LibertyGirl77]

"A wife can remarry, but a mother can't replace a child even if she gives birth to a thousand children. That piece of her heart will always be missing."

I know that lady is hurting, but that is one asinine comment she just made. I could no more "replace" my husband than she can replace her son. He is one-of-a-kind. I could marry a thousand men and that piece of my heart would always be missing.