Army: Florissant (MO) soldier killed herself

[deadparrot]

The military concluded that a Florissant woman killed herself while serving in the Army in Iraq last year, her father said Wednesday.

John Johnson said an military investigator told him during a telephone conversation Friday that his daughter, Army Pfc. LaVena Johnson, died from an intentional "self-inflicted wound."

But Johnson said he doesn’t agree with the military’s findings. He said he believes his 19-year-old daughter "was murdered."

"I don’t feel any different today than when they told me this," Johnson said. "I told him that is what I expected him to say. . . I told him it is not over."

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/104F35B03DE18C4C862571780075DC6E?OpenDocument

[saigon68]

1. Apparently she wasn't ready to move in for

"The Big Win"

[Howardx]

6. full metal jacket quote?

great movie. my grandpa lived in florissant.

[aaronbees]

2. Only 19

Seemed like a beautiful young lady .... :( I hope her father finds out what really happened.

[kainah]

3. how very very sad

One of the most disturbing things I've read since the Iraq war began was an article a few months back saying that women soldiers in Iraq were dying of dehydration because they won't drink water after about 2PM because they don't want to go to the latrines because they don't want to get raped.

Just the idea of that haunts me.

[soup]

4. Two threads from August 2005

Fri Aug-05-05
Coroner's Call Leaves More Questions For Killed Soldier's Family
http://sync.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1679074#1679178


<<SNIP>>
http://www.ksdk.com/printfullstory.aspx?storyid=82905

Coroner's Call Leaves More Questions For Killed Soldier's Family

A St. Louis County family has even more questions after a call from the military. The medical examiner in Dover, Delaware called the Johnsons Wednesday to confirm their daughter, LaVena, died of a self inflicted gun shot wound, indicating suicide. "I believe its either cover up or somebody is not doing their job," an angry Dr. John Johnson told NewsChannel 5.

The Johnson family still suspects foul play. LaVena's father says, "Maybe she saw something, maybe it wasn't rape, maybe she saw something. All I know is something went wrong."

The Johnsons criticize the military for sending LaVena to Iraq even though she flunked her weapons training and a bullet was not found in the death of the supply specialist.

Dr. Johnson asked the medical examiner, "Did you check if my daughter was raped or molested, I was told no, why is that, they said there was no sign of struggle, but it seems to me it would be routine since it involves a female."

<</SNIP>>


------ and -----


Wed Aug-10-05
Foul play suspected in soldier’s death (1st female soldier from MO to die)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1691448

Foul play suspected in soldier’s death
By Daniel R. Brown Special to the NNPA from the St. Louis America

ST. LOUIS (NNPA)—“The military came to my door on July 19 at 7:30 in the morning. The moment my wife looked out the window and she said ‘John, it’s a soldier standing on the porch,’ I knew it was bad news,” recounted John Johnson, father of Private LaVena Johnson, 19, of Florissant, Mo., who recently died near Balad, Iraq.

She was the first female soldier from Missouri to die while serving in the current war in Iraq.

...

“This is what they said: ‘Your daughter died this morning of a self-inflicted wound,’” Johnson recounted. “I said, ‘Self-inflicted? Are you saying that my daughter shot herself?’ He said, ‘No, sir, but it’s being investigated.’”

After LaVena’s remains were returned to the family two weeks ago, the Johnsons did some disturbing and shattering investigations of their own.

“I am going to tell you for a fact. We looked at her body and we saw some things,” Johnson said. “I don’t want to say too much right now, but I am going to say this: I think that the investigation is a criminal investigation, and I think that there is foul play.”

(more)
http://www.frostillustrated.com/news/2005/0810/Front_Page/003.html

-----

After reading all the articles at the time, suicide didn't make any sense then and it still doesn't. She had so much to live for - so much promise. One of the things that has stuck with me was repeated in the new article:

>"The Johnson family said nearly two days before she died, she assured her mother she would be home for Christmas."<

[Sherman A1]

5. A very sad story

for us all and those of us here in Florissant.