Sgt. John Russell trial example of what went wrong on PTSD

By now most people have forgotten what happened in 2009 at Camp Liberty. The witnesses haven't forgotten. The families haven't forgotten. Aside from the trial, the military must have forgotten about this too.

Camp Liberty shootings leave a lot of questions but so far we're still asking questions and getting few answers. In May of 2009 The Guardian headline was "Horror and stress of Iraq duty led US sergeant to kill comrades" and it is something you should read before you decide how you feel about this story.

U.S. soldier enters no plea in 2009 Iraq shootings
By Laura L. Myers
Reuters
November 19, 2012

Sgt. Russell, Army sergeant accused of killing five fellow soldiers in Iraq, is seen in military photo provided by his father, Wilburn in Sherman
(JESSICA RINALDI, REUTERS / November 19, 2012)

TACOMA, Washington (Reuters) - A U.S. soldier accused of killing five fellow servicemen at a military combat stress center in Baghdad in 2009 entered no plea at an arraignment on Monday at a military base in Washington state.

Sergeant John Russell is accused of going on a shooting spree at Camp Liberty, near the Baghdad airport, in an assault the military said at the time could have been triggered by combat stress.

Russell, of the 54th Engineer Battalion based in Bamberg, Germany, faces five charges of premeditated murder, one charge of aggravated assault and one charge of attempted murder in connection with the May 2009 shootings. Six months ago, he was ordered to stand trial in a military court that has the power to sentence him to the death penalty, if convicted.

Two of the five people killed in the shooting were medical staff officers at the counseling center for troops experiencing combat stress. The others were soldiers.
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Combat stress unit at center of Iraq slaying trial
May 17, 2009
The trial of Pfc. Steven Green may end up explaining part of what was behind Sgt. Russell's action at Camp Liberty's Stress Clinic. If doctors are under pressure to return soldiers back to duty, they are not getting the kind of care the doctors are trying to give them. What good do stress clinics do if the commanders are more interested in getting them back into action instead of being healed enough first before sending them back?

Fort Levenworth hearing set for Sgt. John Russell

Baghdad Shooting Spotlights Combat Stress

Dad of soldier killed in Iraq burns flag to protest lowering for Whitney Houston

Dad of soldier killed in Iraq burns flag to protest lowering for Whitney Houston
By: Corey Williams, The Associated Press
Posted: 02/20/2012

DETROIT - John Burri lost a son in Iraq and believes lowering flags to half-staff should be done to commemorate those who gave their lives in service to the United States, not celebrities like Whitney Houston.

On Saturday, the 60-year-old spent $12.95 on a 3-by-5-foot replica of New Jersey's state flag and burned it on his outdoor grill in protest of Gov. Chris Christie's decision to mark Houston's death by lowering flags in her native state.

"This was a person who was a great entertainer and a great voice," said Burri, who lives in the city of Wyoming in western Michigan. "But this was not someone who gave their life and shed their blood for our country."

Army Specialist Eric Burri was a gunner on a Humvee when he was killed in 2005 after an explosive device detonated near his vehicle in Baghdad. Then-Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm ordered flags lowered in his memory.
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What really happened to Pfc. David Jones Jr?

If a 21 year old soldier committed suicide, it is very sad, but we've been reading about suicide deaths for years. Usually when we read their stories, the families report other issues or changes going on before the death. The times when a family does not believe the death was by their own hands are often a very long battle to discover the truth.

St. Johnsville soldier's loved ones dispute Army's suicide finding
But David Jones' loved ones not satisfied with Army report in Iraq case
By DENNIS YUSKO Staff Writer
Updated 10:38 p.m., Friday, February 25, 2011

The would-be fiance of an area soldier who died in Iraq refuses to accept a recently completed Army investigation that says he killed himself in Baghdad.

An Army Criminal Investigation Command probe into the Oct. 24 death of Pfc. David Jones Jr. determined the 21-year-old soldier committed suicide. Results were sent recently to Jones' family in his hometown of St. Johnsville.

"CID's investigation concluded that Pfc. Jones died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and that no foul play was suspected in his death," CID spokesman Jeffrey Castro said in an e-mail Friday.


Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/St-Johnsville-soldier-s-loved-ones-dispute-1030401.php#ixzz1F4IUkn7Z

Winton and Jones' family, whose name is Bennett, consider his death suspicious and have said he had too much to live for to have taken his life. In the days following Jones' death, family members said they thought he was killed by another soldier in a shooting rampage. Army officials quickly denied that.

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St. Johnsville soldier's loved ones dispute Army's suicide finding1

Vietnam vet went from homeless shelter to Baghdad

Returning home from a war zone
Bayonne welcomes back 55-year-old vet

by Al Sullivan
Reporter staff writer
Aug 18, 2010
Willmont Griffin – often called “Griff” – is a Vietnam-era veteran even though his tour of duty only required him to serve in that country for two days. He was one of the U.S. Marines pulling terrified people into a CH-53 helicopter just before Saigon fell in April 1975 after Communist forces captured the city.

Thirty-five years later and now an airman with the New Jersey Air National Guard, Griffin returned home from another war zone, Iraq, his second tour of duty to a combat zone since leaving the U.S. Marines in 1977. He was recently named Legionnaire of the Year at the Bayonne American Legion Post.
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Returning home from a war zone

Idle US soldiers fight 'Baghdad bulge'

Idle US soldiers fight 'Baghdad bulge'

THEY call it the "Baghdad bulge".
Standing outside a Burger King on the Camp Liberty military base near the city's airport, a group of American soldiers ponder whether to order a second Whopper.

"Not me, man," said Specialist Joe Lorenzo, "I put on so much goddam weight, who knows if my wife will recognise me when I get home?"

Now US troops have been withdrawn from Iraqi city streets and are spending more time behind barbed wire awaiting withdrawal, commanders are struggling to keep them entertained.

Offering ever-increasing food options is the first line of defence in the fight against boredom.

The favourite is lobster night at the D-Fac - American military vernacular for the official "dining facilities". Thousands of sea creatures are regularly taken to the Iraqi desert by cargo plane.

For soldiers prepared to spend their own money on the base, there is also SGVillage, an upmarket mall with restaurants clustered around a car park that opened three weeks ago. The most popular eatery is the red-walled Royal China, boasting a chef from Hong Kong who offers Szechuan-style chicken (£6.90), beef and green peppers (£7.80) and stir-fried noodles with vegetables (£ 4.20).

His uniformed customers sit on wooden deckchairs by a newly planted lawn. But SGVillage faces competition from Camp Liberty Bazaar, where soldiers while away the day surrounded by branded American eateries such as Taco Bell, Subway and Popeyes Chicken and Biscuits.

Behind them is the Post Exchange, or PX, a military supermarket where they can buy T-bone steaks and pork loins along with a Smokey Joe Silver 14-inch barbecue grill (£16.70) and bags of charcoal (£2.80 for 7.2lb).
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Idle US soldiers fight Baghdad bulge
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Fort Lewis MP dies in Iraq

Fort Lewis MP dies in Iraq

MATT MISTEREK; The News Tribune


A highly decorated military police officer from Fort Lewis who saw previous action in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan died Tuesday in Iraq in what the Department of Defense is calling a noncombat incident.

Maj. David L. Audo, 35, of Saint Joseph, Ill., died in Baghdad, according to DOD and Fort Lewis news releases issued Wednesday. He was assigned in July to Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment of the 22nd Military Police Battalion at Fort Lewis, and at the time of his death was the executive officer for the battalion’s forward element in Iraq.

He married Rebecca K. Johnson in 1998, according to her Web site, and they have two children, according to The News-Gazette of Champaign, Ill.
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http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/northwest/story/934024.html

Mother of MacDill airman killed in Iraq says son was "very, very dedicated"

[Photo by ANTHONY LACHICA]
In Iraq, 1st Lt. Joe Helton’s job was to help train Iraqi police. In a blog post, he wrote that Iraqis were “just like us on a basic, human level.” He was killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad.

Mother of MacDill airman killed in Iraq says son was "very, very dedicated"
By Michael Kruse, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Thursday, September 10, 2009
TAMPA — Back when he was a senior in high school in Monroe, Ga., Joe Helton told his mother he thought the Air Force Academy in Colorado was too far away. He had three sisters. His parents were divorced.

"He felt like he had to stay around home and take care of the girls and me," his mother, Jiffy Helton, said Wednesday night on the phone from Georgia. "He felt like he was the man of the house."

She said go.

"I told him," she said, "he had a life to lead."

Helton, 24, died Tuesday in Iraq while on patrol when a roadside bomb exploded in Baghdad, the Department of Defense announced Wednesday. He was in the 6th Security Forces Squadron out of MacDill Air Force Base. He had been stationed at MacDill since 2007, base spokeswoman Rebecca Heyse said.

This was his first tour in Iraq. He volunteered to go.

Col. Lawrence Martin of the 6th Air Mobility Wing called Helton "an amazing airman," saying in a statement: "We are deeply saddened by his loss and very proud of his service."
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MacDill airman killed in Iraq

A military police company returns to Tampa

Coming home to a new world
A military police company returns to Tampa to find many changes on the home front during their 11-month tour.
Drew Harwell, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Friday, January 23, 2009
TAMPA — For the last 11 months, Luis Calderon's life back home has gone on without him.

His wife made a new circle of friends. The bedroom curtains changed. And his two daughters?

"They've grown 4 inches in a year. Both of them," said Calderon, who returned Thursday morning from Iraq. He and 161 other members of the 320th Military Police Company were welcomed home at Tampa International Airport by teary-eyed wives, anxious family members and flag-waving supporters.

But the world Calderon left nearly a year ago is not exactly the one he returned to Thursday. We have a black president. Fewer banks. Colder weather. Cheaper gas.

Calderon saw some of these changes from a computer screen in Tikrit, a world of roadside bombs, gunshots and military salutes. But some things can't be transmitted via Webcam.

"When I left, the little one didn't talk that much. Now, on the way home, she started singing the ABCs," he said. "I was just amazed how much she knows."
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Troops in Iraq cry, cheer for inauguration

Maya Alleruzzo / The Associated Press Command Sgt. Maj. Julia Kelley, left, of the 229th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, weeps as she watches the inauguration of President Barack Obama at Camp Liberty in Baghdad on Jan. 20.

Troops in Iraq cry, cheer for inauguration
By Maya Alleruzzo - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Jan 20, 2009 18:51:00 EST

CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq — Army Sgt. James Bishop wiped away tears while he watched Barack Obama take the presidential oath Tuesday and wished his mother had lived to see a fellow black assume their nation’s highest office.

“My mother always wanted to be here,” said Bishop, 39, from Washington, D.C., who watched the ceremony on TV at Camp Liberty on the western edge of Baghdad.

“She always wanted this to happen, and she said it was going to happen one day,” he added. “Unfortunately, she passed before this time came.”

Across Iraq, many of the 140,000 U.S. military personnel watched the inaugural ceremony on television sets in dining halls and break rooms or over the Web at large installations with Internet service.
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Chinook crash kills 5 soldiers in Iraq

Chinook crash kills 5 soldiers in Iraq

By Gina Cavallaro - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Sep 17, 2008 21:32:08 EDT

A helicopter crash in southern Iraq claimed the lives of five soldiers, the Army announced in a news release late Wednesday.

The crash marked the first time in a year that a helicopter crash in Iraq claimed U.S. lives, and only the third time in Iraq that a Chinook has had a fatal incident.

According to the Multi-National Corps Iraq release, a CH-47 Chinook helicopter made a hard landing around 12:01 a.m. Thursday about 65 miles west of Basra.

The heavy lift helicopter was part of an “aerial convoy” that was flying from Kuwait to Balad, about 45 miles north of Baghdad, when it made the landing.

A quick reaction force was dispatched from Basra and a road convoy in the area was diverted to the scene, the release said.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/army_chinook_iraq_091708/

The impact of war on Iraqi children

The Impact of War
Treating Iraqi Children For PTSD
by Lourdes Garcia-Navarro
Listen Now [5 min 24 sec] add to playlist
Morning Edition, August 25, 2008 · According to the Web site Iraq Body Count, at least 658 children were killed in Iraq in 2007, and the violence has touched the lives of many others. Iraq children have been the victims of kidnapping, torture and rape.
The problem has become so acute that a new clinic for children suffering post-traumatic stress disorder will be opening this month in Baghdad. It will be the first of its kind in Iraq.
Dhiya Moussa, 11, is a stocky child with shaggy brown hair. He cautiously answers questions from Dr. Haider Maliki, and confesses he still can't fall asleep at night.
"I am afraid of darkness," Moussa says. "After I was released, I was afraid to stay alone in the dark. I don't know why. When I enter into a dark room I get frightened, I immediately switch on the light and run away."
As he is talking, Moussa keeps looking to his father for reassurance.
Pharmacist Moussa Hussein Hassan says his son was kidnapped in 2004, but he still crawls into bed every night with him and his wife.
"My son was held for seven days before they released him," Hassan says. "They locked him in a shed all by himself with rats in the darkness. Before he was kidnapped, he was never afraid. But after that he became terrified of the dark. He goes to bed very late at night and he can only sleep after exhausting himself. He insists on burying his head under my arm to feel safe when he sleeps."
Moussa also developed memory loss and initially wouldn't mingle with other children. Things got so bad that his father brought him to Dr. Maliki.
Maliki, a psychiatrist, has treated hundreds of children at the Central Pediatric Teaching Hospital in Baghdad where he works. Their stories he says are heartbreaking.
"Of course, we have many children," Maliki says. "I have a female, she [is] 13-years-old. She exposed to kidnapped. They raped her and made sexual intercourse with her for about 4 days daily."
The result is that many develop post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD.
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Baghdad mosque turned into torture chamber

Chain wrapped around 'old man's body' found in mosque
Story Highlights
Iraqi authorities discover 27 bodies at mosque and find torture room

"Here is a chain we found tied to an old man's body," official says

Dad of 25-year-old: "His hands, legs were amputated and his head was decapitated"

Residents say militia has left mosque, but still intimidates them


By Arwa Damon
CNN


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- "There are the bloodstains on the wall, and here it is dried on the floor," Abu Muhanad said as he walked through a torture chamber in a Baghdad mosque where more than two dozen bodies have been found.

"And here, a woman's shoes. She was a victim of the militia. We found her corpse in the grave."
Chunks of hair waft lazily across the floor in the hot Baghdad breeze.

"This was the torture room," said Muhanad, the leader of a U.S.-backed armed group that now controls the mosque.

"This is what they used for hanging," he said, pointing to a cord dangling from the ceiling. "Here is a chain we found tied to an old man's body." Go inside the mosque's torture chamber »

The horrific scene at this southwestern Baghdad mosque is what officials say was the work of a Shiite militia known as the Mehdi Army. Residents who live near the mosque say they could hear the victims' screams.

The militia had been in control of the mosque, called Adib al-Jumaili, from at least January 2007 until May of this year. Residents say coalition forces weren't in the region and the torture and killings went unchecked.

Some of the victims were accused of being spies for U.S. forces. Other family members don't know why their loved ones disappeared. The family members at the mosque who spoke to CNN were all Shiite, the same branch of Islam as the Mehdi militia. But, they say, some of the victims were Sunni as well. Watch mosque atrocities uncovered »
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http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/08/19/iraq.mosque/index.html

Iraq:Soldier dies, 2 hurt in non-combat incident

Soldier dies, 2 hurt in non-combat incident

The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Aug 1, 2008 7:34:11 EDT

BAGHDAD — The U.S. military says an American soldier has died in a non-combat incident in northern Iraq. The death pushes the U.S. monthly toll for July to at least 10.

The military says the soldier died and two others were wounded Thursday during operations in Ninevah province. American and Iraqi troops have been targeting al-Qaida in Iraq and other insurgents in the provincial capital of Mosul and surrounding areas.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/08/ap_noncombat_080108/

Pfc. puts life in shambles by taking war spoils

Pfc. puts life in shambles by taking war spoils

By Billy Cox - Special to the Times

Posted : Saturday Jul 5, 2008 7:26:12 EDT

SARASOTA, Fla. -- After nearly three weeks of desert combat and enough death to jangle his brain for a lifetime, Pfc. Earl Coffey arrived in Baghdad in April 2003 thinking he had discovered an oasis.

It was Palace Row, one of the most exclusive tracts of real estate in Iraq, and not even major bomb damage could dim the luster of a tyrant's decadence. Coffey was among the first U.S. troops to secure Saddam Hussein's inner sanctum, the postwar "Green Zone" now hosting diplomats and government authorities. Its allure was intoxicating.

Coffey recalled his awe at seeing gold-rimmed toilet seats, 30-foot wide chandeliers, and Swarovski crystal collections. Over the next few days, he sampled one revelation after another: the Dom Perignon champagne, the Monte Cristo Cuban cigars, even the lion's roar of captive pet carnivores.

He watched as a Bradley Fighting Vehicle rammed and collapsed the wall of a windowless bunker just outside Saddam's palace. The building concealed bundles of U.S. currency stacked floor-to-ceiling and wrapped in binding that read "Bank of America."

To a man who had grown up in the bleak shadows of Kentucky's coal mines, staring down all that money "was like hitting the lottery," Coffey said.

His career was about to drown in a flood of American dollars.

The family business

Today, adrift and troubled in Sarasota, the 34-year-old is worlds away from what he once was -- a trained sniper who took his first shot with a .22-caliber rifle his father gave him when he was 7 or 8 years old in rural Harlan County. At first, he practiced on tin can lids nailed to a fence post 80 yards away. When that got too easy, he began targeting the nails. And other things.



Struggling back home

Homeless, jobless, struggling with drugs, delinquent on child support payments, and spinning in the revolving door of Sarasota courtrooms and jail cells, Earl Coffey said he is hamstrung by civilian life.

And, in an echo of the post-traumatic stress disorder that contributed to the recent death of 24-year-old Marine Eric Hall in nearby Charlotte County, Fla., Coffey claims the combat flashbacks from the invasion have debilitated him.

"Fighting war's not hard; living with it afterwards is hard," said Coffey, who maintains a military-tight haircut. "It keeps coming back on you. For a long time, I was afraid to go to sleep because I knew what I'd see. You get exhausted by the flashbacks and you feel like you're in a trance all the time, like a zombie, like you're just existing."

Ineligible for Veterans Affairs assistance because of his bad-conduct discharge, Coffey said he turned to Oxycontin, a narcotic he purchased illegally on the streets, to dull the jagged edges of memory.

He said he got "a little carried away," completed detox through the Salvation Army, and insists he is drug-free today. But neither his father nor his wife believe it.

Chaplain Turner's War

Chapter 8 of 8: Chaplain Turner's War

A dangerous mission, a devastating night -- and God's foot soldier marches on


By MONI BASU
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Published on: 06/29/08

Baghdad — The story so far: Chaplain Darren Turner's battalion has lost another soldier. Now he must see three platoons off on a mission in unfamiliar territory. Before the day is over, more bad news tests the chaplain's emotional endurance.



Chaplain Darren Turner hurtles toward the motor pool at Forward Operating Base Falcon. He is anxious to see his men off to battle.

Turner is ordinarily not one for prayers before a mission — he abhors the idea of a soldier nurturing a 911 relationship with God: Pray before you roll out the gates. Pray when a buddy gets hurt.

Then stuff your Bible back into the trunk.

But Turner also understands the comfort that prayer can bring. And this mission to Baghdad's Sadr City is big.

It is March 28, and three 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment platoons in Bradley Fighting Vehicles and Abrams tanks have been called up to support U.S. forces already in the thick of battle.

An impoverished enclave of 2.5 million Shiites, Sadr City is unfamiliar and raw territory for Turner's soldiers. The battalion has not yet experienced urban guerrilla warfare — it is more accustomed to the farmlands and villages of Arab Jabour.

"Hey, what's up, fellas?"

Turner greets the visibly nervous soldiers.

"Ready to ride?"

They reply in a chorus of "hooahs."

"I just wanted to come and encourage you guys before you head out."

Two men who Turner baptized on Good Friday are here. The chaplain notices several others who regularly seek him out.

With those who share his Christian faith, Turner takes extra risks to know them well, to love them as brothers. It's an emotional roll of the dice, because at war, any day could be a soldier's last.

Like today.

Turner reads aloud Psalm 140.

"Keep me safe from violent people ... who plot my downfall. The proud have set a trap for me; they have laid their snares, and along the path they have set traps to catch me."

King David's words resonate, as though they were written specifically about this war, where roads are booby-trapped with improvised explosive devices.

The soldiers bow their heads before the chaplain.

Several fall to their knees.

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CHAPLAIN TURNER'S WAR
Chapter 1: Comfort in toughest of places
Chapter 2: The invisible war
Chapter 3: Summer of death
Chapter 4: Formidable enemy
Chapter 5: Nightmare revisited
Chapter 6: Easter baptisms
Chapter 7: Tragedies test the armor of God
Chapter 8: A dangerous mission, a devastating night

Soldier dies of non-battle causes in Iraq

Soldier dies of non-battle causes in Iraq

The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jun 11, 2008 13:55:55 EDT

BAGHDAD — The U.S. military says a soldier has died of non-battle related causes in Iraq.

A brief statement says the Multi-National Corps — Iraq soldier died Wednesday in Baghdad.

The military says an investigation is under way into the cause of the death.

The soldier’s name has been withheld pending notification of relatives.

At least 4,095 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003. That’s according to an Associated Press count.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/06/ap_casualty_061108/

4 U.S. soldiers killed in Baghdad attack

4 U.S. soldiers killed in Baghdad attack
Rocket or mortar strike kills troops around the capital

BAGHDAD - Four American soldiers were killed Monday in rocket or mortar attacks in separate volleys in Baghdad.

The attacks raised the monthly U.S. death toll to at least 44, making it the deadliest since September.


Three of the Multi-National Division — Baghdad soldiers were killed just after 1 p.m. in an eastern section of the capital, the military said.


The statement did not give an exact location for the attack, but the area has been the scene of intense fighting recently between Shiite militiamen and U.S.-Iraqi troops.


Another soldier was killed by indirect fire in western Baghdad, the military said separately, using its term for a rocket or mortar attack.


In all, at least 4,056 members of the U.S. military have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24356128/

Green Zone hit during sand storm

Sandstorm aids insurgent attack on Green Zone

By Sameer N. Yacoub - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Apr 27, 2008 13:12:52 EDT

BAGHDAD — Militants fired a salvo of rockets or mortar shells into Baghdad’s Green Zone Sunday, apparently taking advantage of a sandstorm that blanketed the Iraqi capital.

There was no immediate word on casualties or damage.

At least eight rounds hit the heavily guarded section of Baghdad that houses the Iraqi government and U.S. Embassy, said a police official who asked not to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

Alarms could be heard and loudspeakers warned residents to take cover.

The Green Zone has been regularly shelled during the past month. In March, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki launched a crackdown against Shiite militias in Baghdad and elsewhere.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/04/ap_greenzone_042708/

Roadside bomb targets U.S. convoy, sets market ablaze

Roadside bomb targets U.S. convoy, sets market ablaze

By Hamid Ahmed - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Apr 14, 2008 7:57:02 EDT

BAGHDAD — An attack on a U.S. convoy sparked a large fire in an eastern Baghdad market Monday.

Dozens of stalls were set ablaze at 2 a.m. local time when a bomb exploded next to a convoy of U.S. military vehicles driving down a commercial street in the capital’s eastern district.

A Humvee was damaged in the blast, said an Iraqi police officer who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

Residents said more than a dozen U.S. and Iraqi firefighting vehicles rushed to the scene to put out the blaze, which continued until morning. The U.S. military said none of the soldiers involved was seriously hurt.

The U.S. military said militants firing rocket-propelled grenades ambushed an American patrol in eastern Baghdad late Sunday night. Armed helicopters and an Abrams tank repelled the attack, killing six of the gunmen, the statement said.

Elsewhere in Iraq, U.S. soldiers discovered a mass grave near Muqdadiyah, about 60 miles north of Baghdad, the military said Monday.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/04/ap_iraqattack_041408/

Col. Stephen Scott killed in Green Zone Iraq

Col. Stephen Scott died April 6 during a mortar attack on facilities inside the Green Zone in Baghdad. An avid jogger, the 54-year-old Scott was killed as he exercised on a treadmill, according to his sister, Kathleen King.

Colonel 9th of his rank to be killed in Iraq

By Christopher Leonard - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Apr 10, 2008 8:10:31 EDT

ST. LOUIS — Family members are mourning an Army colonel who had worked at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama and who is only the ninth solider of his rank to have been killed in the Iraq war.

Col. Stephen Scott died Sunday during a mortar attack on facilities inside the protected Green Zone in Baghdad, which houses the U.S. Embassy. An avid jogger, the 54-year-old Scott was killed as he exercised on a treadmill in a U.S. military facility, according to his sister, Kathleen King.

Scott is one of the highest ranking officers killed in the Iraq conflict, which has claimed the lives of more than 4,000 U.S. soldiers. Two colonels were among 12 people killed in 2007 when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed near Baghdad.

Colonel appears to be the highest rank of any U.S. military deaths in the Iraq war. According to an Associated Press database of U.S. military deaths in Iraq, at least eight other Army or Army Reserve colonels have died in the now 5-year-old war.

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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/04/ap_colonelkilled_040908/