"As the piece was still being written, another of its authors was shot in the head."

[seafan]

Regarding the NY Times OP-Ed written by seven active duty soldiers on August 19, 2007, "The War As We Saw It":

As the piece was still being written another of its authors, army Ranger and reconnaissance team leader Staff Sgt Jeremy Murphy, was shot in the head.

This was near the end of this article in the Australia Herald Sun, September 14, 2007.


Here it is, in context:

.....

Sgt Mora and one of his co-authors, Sgt Yance T. Gray, 26, of Montana, were killed, along with five other US soldiers and two detainees, in a single-vehicle accident. Eleven other soldiers and one detainee were injured.

The US military didn't mention hostile fire or say in what Baghdad neighbourhood they'd died.

The controversial Times column, called "The War As We Saw It," expressed doubts about American gains in Iraq.

"To believe that Americans, with an occupying force that long ago outlived its reluctant welcome, can win over a recalcitrant local population and win this counter-insurgency is far-fetched," the group wrote.

In their last line, the authors said: "We need not talk about our morale. As committed soldiers, we will see this mission through."

As the piece was still being written another of its authors, army Ranger and reconnaissance team leader Staff Sgt Jeremy Murphy, was shot in the head.

He was expected to survive after being flown to a military hospital in the US.

.....

Was this reported anywhere in the US media?





As is stands now, two of the soldiers who penned the NY Times August 19, 2007 editorial, "The War As We Saw It" were killed this week in an overturned vehicle.


And another of the authors was shot in the head and was flown to the US, and we are just now hearing about this?


What. The. F.

[blogslut]

1. I read that

I hope he survives and becomes well again.

[Kagemusha]

2. Well I certainly heard of him being shot, but I read about it on blogs.

I'm not sure where that entered the media. It could've been an afterthought in the NY Times or something but, well, the story was quickly forgotten by punditry rather than taken head-on... so people dropped the issue.

So probably reported somewhere, but not too loudly

[blogslut]

4. It entered via the AP

http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/nation/20070912_ap_2soldierswhowroteopeddiediniraq.html

Another co-author, Staff Sgt. Jeremy Murphy, was shot in the head Aug. 12 while the op-ed was being written. The Army Ranger and reconnaissance team leader flown to a military hospital in the United States and expected to survive.

[angstlessk]

3. THREE OUT OF SEVEN HAVE BEEN EITHER KILLED OR WOUNDED??

What are the odds? All in seperate incidents? Any statisticians out there???

[The Traveler]

5. Excellent question

Someone needs to crank up the math on this. I'm still a little paranoid about the whole Pat Tillman episode, and this is doing nothing to relieve that.

"Just 'cause yer paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get ya."

[jeff30997]

7. Yep.3 down...

Weird.

[hvn_nbr_2]

9. Odds are...

officially sponsored fragging.

[niyad]

6. KO mentioned this last night.

[seafan]

8. How could this rollover "accident" kill 9, and injure 12 others?

Soldier critics killed in Iraq

THE mother of a soldier who died in a Baghdad accident weeks after criticising the Pentagon in the New York Times wants the army to explain his suspicious death.

"I want to know all the details of how he died.

"I want to know the truth," said Olga Capetillo, whose son, Sgt Omar Mora, 28, died on Monday.

"I don't understand how so many people could die in that accident. How could it be so bad?"

Sgt Mora and one of his co-authors, Sgt Yance T. Gray, 26, of Montana, were killed, along with five other US soldiers and two detainees, in a single-vehicle accident. Eleven other soldiers and one detainee were injured.

The US military didn't mention hostile fire or say in what Baghdad neighbourhood they'd died.

This is reminiscent of the Pat Tillman case.

[Schema Thing]

10. huh? The original article mentioned this fact

[seafan]

11. Was this soldier also involved in the incident with the NYT OpEd authors?

Found this report of another fatality on the same day, last Monday, September 10, near Baghdad, in similar-sounding circumstances. It appears possible that this soldier could have been in the same incident that killed the soldiers who wrote in the NY Times, but don't know for certain.


According to the NYT, September 12:

Two of the soldiers who wrote of their pessimism about the war in an Op-Ed article that appeared in The New York Times on Aug. 19 were killed in Baghdad on Monday. They were not killed in combat, nor on a daring mission. They died when the five-ton cargo truck in which they were riding overturned.

Sgt. Michael C. Hardegree

http://www.11alive.com/news/article_news.aspx?storyid=103129">Villa Rica Soldier Killed in Iraq

Reported by: Catherine Kim
Last Modified: 9/14/2007 7:12:01 PM

.....


The 21-year-old paratrooper was always ready for a mission, always willing to serve. And that's exactly what he was doing on Monday. Hardegree and several of his Lieutenants were near Baghdad after a successful mission.

“And they were on their way back and there was some small arms fire and some dust. And in the confusion the driver couldn't see, hit a barrier, and the barrier deflected the vehicle. The vehicle was on the edge of a bridge and started to teeter,” said Shaw.

Hardegree and everyone in his truck fell over the bridge at least 50 feet below.

“Mike survived 12 hours to the hospital and got to the hospital and felt no pain,” said Shaw.

But for those he left behind, the pain is a very real reminder of how much they loved Mike, reminders of their last words with him.

.....

Mike Hardegree would have come home November 11th. He will be buried at Arlington Cemetery.

RIP, Sgt. Hardegree.


Just can't take this any more. God help us all.

[wiggs]

12. Amazing Op-Ed that gets past the sound bites. nt