Lawsuit names Halliburton, subsidiaries in soldiers’ deaths

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Lawsuit names Halliburton, subsidiaries in soldiers’ deaths
By Bryan Mitchell and Geoff Ziezulewicz, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Wednesday, November 14, 2007

RAF MILDENHALL, England — The families of two 1st Armored Division soldiers killed in 2004 in Iraq are awaiting their day in court more than two years after filing a lawsuit against Halliburton and its subsidiaries for their alleged role in the soldiers’ deaths.

The suit, seeking undisclosed damages, was filed in 2005 by the families of Sgt. James G. West and Spc. Dana N. Wilson. It is now making its way through U.S. District Court against the military’s chief contractor, KBR Inc., its former parent company, and a host of foreign-owned logistics companies. A court date has not been set.

West, 34, of Watertown, N.Y., and Wilson, 26, of Fountain, Colo., died in July 2004 in a head-on collision while conducting a convoy along the so-called Main Supply Route Tampa, the primary artery connecting Baghdad with Kuwait.

An Army investigation showed that an Iraqi man driving a tractor-trailer in a northbound military convoy lost control of his vehicle, crossed the center line on a narrow stretch of road and collided with a southbound Humvee, killing West and Wilson.

The soldiers served with the Baumholder-based 1st Battalion, 94th Field Artillery.

The lawsuit — provided to Stars and Stripes by a Houston-based attorney representing the families — alleges that KBR and its then-parent company Halliburton were responsible for the driver and his actions, and that the companies were negligent.


Rest of article at: http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=50251