Veterans Get Burned Again By Court After Burn Pits

Court Deals Major Blow to Veterans Suing Over Burn Pits

Special to McClatchy Washington Bureau
By Patricia Kime
5 Aug 2017

"My husband is DEAD because of burn pits," Dina McKenna, whose husband, former Army Sgt. William McKenna, died in 2010 from a rare form of T-cell lymphoma after serving in Iraq, told McClatchy in an email. "I want someone to be held accountable."

A senior airman tosses unserviceable uniform items into a burn pit at Balad Air Base, Iraq, in March 2008. (US Air Force photo/Julianne Showalter)

A federal judge has dismissed a major lawsuit against a defense contractor by veterans and their family members, over burn pit operations in Iraq and Afghanistan that plaintiffs said caused them chronic and sometimes deadly respiratory diseases and cancer.

In the decision, U.S. District Court Judge Roger W. Titus wrote that the company, KBR, could not be held liable for what was essentially a military decision to use burn pits for waste disposal. Titus said holding the Pentagon responsible was outside of his jurisdiction.

"The extensive evidence ... demonstrates that the mission-critical, risk-based decisions surrounding the use and operation of open burn pits ... were made by the military as a matter of military wartime judgment," Titus wrote in an 81-page opinion.

The dismissal -- the second by Titus in the case -- deals a major blow to the more than 700 veterans, family members and former KBR employees who brought the suit.

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Federal Court May Finally Help OEF OIF Veterans After Burn Pits

Federal court to weigh lawsuit alleging lung diseases from Iraq, Afghanistan burn pits
Stars and Stripes
By Tara Copp
Published: December 31, 2015

KBR, under the military’s logistical support contract, operated the pits.

WASHINGTON — A federal district court on Jan. 21 will consider the scope of a lawsuit alleging soldiers’ exposure to burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan led to serious respiratory illnesses and deaths and whether government contractor KBR, Inc. is responsible for the way the pits were operated.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, the military relied heavily on the large, open-air pits to burn trash and waste daily, exposing the personnel working the pits and others living nearby to toxic smoke.

In 2010, the Government Accountability Office found the Department of Defense was not following its own regulations for safe burn-pit operations, and that pits were regularly used to dispose of prohibited plastics, paints, batteries, aerosols, aluminum and other items that could produce harmful emissions when burned.

Nine locations in Afghanistan are also potentially within the lawsuit’s scope, as are another eight bases supporting Iraq and Afghanistan operations, such as Camp Arijian in Kuwait.
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Iraq Veterans Sue KBR For Burn Pit Toxic Exposures

Five Casper veterans sue company over toxic burn pits in Iraq
Casper Star Tribune
Lillian Schrock
October 9, 2015

Five Casper military veterans filed a federal lawsuit Friday alleging they were exposed to toxic fumes when a Houston-based corporation improperly burned waste during the war in Iraq.

Ochs Law Firm filed the suit against KBR Inc. in the U.S. District Court of Wyoming. The suit is believed to be the first toxic burn pit case filed in Wyoming, according to the Casper-based law office.

The suit states KBR was hired to handle waste disposal for American operations in Iraq.

KBR failed to take necessary safety precautions and incinerated unsorted waste, including chemicals, in burn pits, exposing the soldiers to health-damaging toxins, the suit claims.
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ALSO

Vets Can Finally Sue Contractors for Cancer Caused by War
After the Supreme Court found that KBR could be sued over the burn pits it operated on bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2008, I received a memo from an Air Force bioenvironmental flight commander, Lt. Col. Darrin Curtis, saying that the troops at Air Base Balad were being exposed to “an acute health hazard.”

At that point, no one had reported on the burn pits, which were used by the military and its contractors to dispose of trash at almost every base in Iraq and Afghanistan.

New Mexico

Ailing vets sue, say toxic burn pits cost them their health

KBR, Halliburton Found Not Immune in Burn-Pit Suits
March 6 (Bloomberg) -- KBR Inc. and Halliburton Co. aren’t automatically immune from lawsuits by military service members over illnesses caused by exposure to contractor burn pits, a U.S. appeals court said, reversing a lower court ruling. KBR is only entitled to immunity if it adhered to the terms of its contract with the government, something the district court failed to explore adequately, U.S. Circuit Judge Henry Floyd wrote in sending the case back for further proceedings.

There are a lot more like this one from 2010

Houston National Guard troops file suit over Camp Taji burn pits
Ill wind blows, some in Houston Guard unit believe
Baghdad burn pit operated by KBR said to cause migraines, breathing problems and rashes
By LINDSAY WISE and LISE OLSEN
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Feb. 1, 2010

CAMP TAJI, Iraq — One night in mid-January, a shift in the wind sent a sudden flurry of white flakes into a detainee internment facility guarded by soldiers from Houston’s 72nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team.

The Texas Army National Guard troops weren’t witnessing a rare Baghdad snowfall. The flakes drifting from the pitch-dark sky were ash and bits of charred trash belched from an open-air burn pit about 100 yards from the outer walls of the internment facility.

Operated by Houston-based contractor KBR, the pit consumes 120 tons of garbage a day here at Camp Taji, a U.S. military base north of Baghdad. On calm days, noxious smoke billows upward and dissipates into a smog-like haze. When the wind blows, the acrid-smelling fumes pour into towers and yards where about 800 Texas troops from the 72nd keep watch.

“It hovers over like a blanket,” said Sgt. 1st Class Kevin Ethier, 36, of Montgomery. “After it rains, you’ll get puddles of stuff. It’s like a yellowish, brackish color. It looks metallic. It’s just disgusting.”

Soldiers say a fine layer of soot settles on their uniforms and black goop comes out when they blow their noses. They complain of migraines, breathing problems, coughs, sore throats, irritated eyes and skin rashes.

The Texas Guard troops aren’t the first to report problems from exposure to burn pits at U.S. military bases across Iraq and Afghanistan.

KBR, Halliburton rape case set to go to trial

KBR, Halliburton rape case set to go to trial
© 2011 The Associated Press
June 13, 2011, 3:02AM


HOUSTON — Trial opens in a lawsuit filed by a Texas woman who says she was raped by co-workers in Iraq while employed by a former Halliburton Co. subsidiary.

Jury selection is to begin Monday in Houston in the suit filed by Jamie Leigh Jones against Halliburton and its ex-subsidiary, KBR Inc.


Read more: KBR, Halliburton rape case set to go to trial

Iraq contractor seeks appeal from Oregon veterans

Iraq contractor seeks appeal from Oregon veterans

PORTLAND, Ore. — A Texas-based military contractor is seeking an appeal before trial begins in a lawsuit filed by Oregon veterans who claim they were exposed to a toxic chemical in Iraq. Attorneys for Kellogg, Brown and Root claim that suing a military contractor raises “unprecedented” legal questions that first should be decided by a higher court. Other federal judges have ruled in KBR’s favor in lawsuits in Indiana and West Virginia, saying their courts lack jurisdiction. But U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Papak in Portland told attorneys Wednesday to prepare for trial while he considers the KBR request to have the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals review his rulings. Oregon Army National Guard veterans sued KBR last year, claiming the company downplayed or disregarded their exposure to hexavalent chromium in Iraq.

Iraq contractor seeks appeal from Oregon veterans

Military’s casualty notification system often frustratingly uneven

Military’s casualty notification system often frustratingly uneven for families
By Geoff Ziezulewicz
Stars and Stripes
Published: August 5, 2010


The casualty notification officers somberly relayed their message: It was one of her twin sons, Army Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, who had perished.

They couldn’t provide any more information to Harris, nothing else to help the reeling mother absorb or even comprehend the shock.

“Their job was to convey he died,” Harris said. “That’s it. I actually for a brief period of time thought he’d been murdered. That was even more horrible.”

It wasn’t until the next day that Harris was told that her son had been electrocuted in a shower, but still there were few details. Desperate for answers, Harris started hounding the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command, and three weeks later, she found out that an electrical system had shorted out, killing Maseth in the shower at the Radwaniyah Palace Complex in Baghdad.

“I don’t think I would have been told that unless I had constantly pressured and questioned [the military],” said Harris, who later filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against KBR, the contractor responsible for the wiring. “They told me it was difficult to relay information from Iraq to the U.S. I said, ‘How are you fighting a war?’ ”
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Military casualty notification system often frustratingly uneven

KBR sued by Uncle Sam after new contract

Why does this sound like something out of a bad movie?

US Sues Contractor KBR Over Iraq Bills
April 02, 2010
Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- The federal government sued KBR Inc., the largest contractor in Iraq, on Thursday over what prosecutors say were improper charges to the Army for private security services.

Houston-based KBR Inc. is a former subsidiary of Halliburton Co. It recently won a new contract potentially worth more than $2 billion for support work in the country.

The lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington charged that KBR and 33 of its subcontractors used private armed security at various times from 2003 to 2006. The suit claimed KBR knew under the terms of its contract the company could not bill the U.S. government for such services but did so anyway.
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US Sues Contractor KBR Over Iraq Bills

Halliburton, KBR drop court appeal in rape case

Halliburton, KBR drop court appeal in rape case
By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI Associated Press Writer © 2010 The Associated Press
March 22, 2010, 5:09PM

HOUSTON — Halliburton Co. and KBR Inc. have withdrawn an appeal asking the U.S. Supreme Court to block a lawsuit by a former military contractor who says she was raped by KBR co-workers in Iraq.

KBR said in a statement Monday that it withdrew the appeal to not risk violating a recently passed federal provision it called "very broad and vague," that restricts the Defense Department from doing business with companies that prohibit employees from seeking redress for certain crimes through the courts.
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Halliburton, KBR drop court appeal in rape case
linked from RawStory

Woman awarded $3M in assault claim against KBR

Woman awarded $3M in assault claim against KBR
By JUAN A. LOZANO (AP) – 3 days ago

HOUSTON — A woman who claimed she was raped in 2005 while working in Iraq for a former Halliburton Co. subsidiary has been awarded nearly $3 million by an arbitrator to settle her case.

Tracy Barker had sued U.S. contractor KBR Inc, its former parent company Halliburton and several affiliates in May 2007, claiming she was sexually attacked by a State Department employee while working as a civilian contractor in the southern Iraqi city of Basra.

A federal judge in Houston had dismissed Barker's lawsuit in January 2008, ruling she had to abide by an employment agreement she signed that said any claims she made against the companies would have to be settled through arbitration and not the courts.

Court records filed this week show Barker was awarded a judgment of $2.93 million to settle her arbitration claim against KBR.

The Associated Press doesn't usually identify those who report they were sexually assaulted, but Barker made her identity public in her lawsuit.
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Woman awarded 3M in assault claim against KBR

GOP senators voted against rape victims for contractors

This is not about an employment issue but it is about a crime against women and the attitude some men have. These people should be ashamed and the rest of the senators that voted to treat rape like a crime should be honored by all women for this.

GANG RAPE LEGISLATION NIXED BY 30 GOP'ers

DEFENSE CONTRACTORS BUY SENATE VOTES

By Gordon Duff STAFF WRITER/Senior Editor

Is it this plain? Are the facts this clear? Did 30 Republicans vote to allow defense contractors protection if their employees are raped, drugged and imprisoned? Haliburton/KBR, the "Dick" Cheney company did exactly this, locked a rape victim in a box, drugged her and kept her prisoner.


68 Senators, every single Democrat and some Republicans, voted to allow defense contractors whose employees are sexually assaulted be taken to court. Robert Kennedy Jr. and Mike Papantonio describe their take on opposition to the Rape Protection bill.
"I checked to make sure that the 30 Republican Senators who voted against Jamie Leigh Jones' anti-rape bill two weeks ago had wives and daughters. Most of them did. But their love for defense contractor PAC money is obviously greater than their love even for their own daughters. The Senate bill was simple to follow: if a contractor like KBR has an employee who is sexually assaulted on the job, that employee has a right to have a jury hear and decide the facts of the case. If the contractor denies the victim that right, then the U.S. government won't do business with that contractor. In 2005, Jones, a KBR employee, was gang-raped in Iraq by KBR workers. After she was gang-raped, KBR security held her prisoner inside a 5' x 6' shipping container to make sure she kept her mouth shut.
The vote to enact the bill was 68 to 30. Go to the website Republicans For Rape, and you can see the list of those 30 GOP leaders who voted against offering justice to victims like Jamie. They argued that it is too harsh to force a valued defense contractor like KBR or Haliburton to appear in front of a civil jury to face outraged and repulsed fathers, mothers, and sisters when stories like Jamie's are told. What those 30 all-male, all-Republican Senators would prefer is that Jamie and victims like her would be raped again by KBR by appearing in a closed door, secretive, arbitration hearing where no one would hear the details of the assault.
read more here
http://www.veteranstoday.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=9224

Troops stationed at Qarmat Ali to be tested for chemical contamination

Iraq vets at treatment plant asked to get exam

By KIMBERLY HEFLING
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Six years after nearly 1,200 U.S. soldiers in Iraq were potentially exposed to a sometimes deadly chemical linked to cancer, the military and Veterans Affairs Department have been tracking them down and asking them to get a medical exam.

The troops were protecting or in the area of workers hired by a subsidiary of the contractor, KBR Inc., based in Houston, to rebuild the Iraqi water treatment plant Qarmat Ali near Basra, Iraq. The chemical was sodium dichromate, and it had contaminated the area.

In June, The Associated Press chronicled the health problems of the soldiers who had served at the site. Sickness with symptoms ranging from chest pain to lung disease and even death among troops who served there have been blamed on exposure at the site.
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Iraq vets at treatment plant asked to get exam
linked fromhttp://www.icasualties.org/Iraq/index.aspx

Take back KBR bonuses, senators urge Pentagon over electrical work

Take back KBR bonuses, senators urge Pentagon
Story Highlights
Military contractor has been awarded $83.4 million for its electrical work in Iraq
Dems ask to reclaim bonuses in light of report blaming KBR in part for death
Report says KBR failed to ground water pump, leading to soldier's electrocution
KBR defends its performance, says safety and security is its "top priority"


From Abbie Boudreau and Scott Bronstein
CNN Special Investigations Unit

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Two Democratic senators called on the Pentagon to take back more than $83 million in bonuses paid to military contractor KBR after a Defense Department report criticized its electrical work on U.S. bases overseas.



"I want them to tell us on what basis can they possibly continue to justify having paid $83 million of the taxpayers' money for shoddy work that resulted in risk to our soldiers," Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota told reporters Friday.

Dorgan said he and Sen. Bob Casey of Pennsylvania are pressing Defense Department officials to reclaim $83.4 million in bonus payments it awarded KBR for its work in Iraq.
read more here
Take back KBR bonuses senators urge Pentagon

KBR at fault in electrocutions of soldiers according to IG report

UPDATE to KBR

Claims against contractor dismissed in soldier's death
Story Highlights
Sgt. Christopher Everett died using a power washer at U.S. base in western Iraq

Judges in Texas, Florida drop military contractor KBR from family's lawsuits

KBR's electrical work in Iraq, Afghanistan has come under criticism from Congress

Pentagon report criticizes Houston-based contractor in death of another soldier

From Abbie Boudreau and Scott Bronstein
CNN Special Investigations Unit
(CNN) -- Judges in Texas and Florida have dropped military contractor KBR from lawsuits brought by the family of a soldier who was electrocuted in Iraq, the company announced Tuesday.


Sgt. Christopher Everett was electrocuted in 2005 at an American base outside Ramadi, in western Iraq.

Sgt. Christopher Everett died while using a power washer at an American base outside Ramadi, in western Iraq. His was one of nine electrocution deaths in Iraq blamed on "improper grounding or faulty equipment," according to a Pentagon inspector-general's report released Monday.

KBR was one of the contractors Everett's family has sued in connection with his death. But federal courts in Louisiana and Texas have thrown out the family's claims against the Houston, Texas-based company, KBR announced Tuesday.

"The dismissal orders affirm that despite repeated criticism and statements made by several public officials on Capitol Hill and related media reports, KBR had no involvement in the factors that led to the tragic death of Sergeant Everett," Andrew D. Farley, the company's senior vice president and general counsel, said in a written statement.

KBR's work in Iraq and Afghanistan has come under extensive criticism from members of Congress. The company has defended its performance and argued that it was not to blame for any fatalities.
read more of this here
Claims against contractor dismissed in soldiers death

IG: Military, KBR at fault in electrocution

By Kimberly Hefling - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Jul 27, 2009 13:28:10 EDT

WASHINGTON — The Defense Department’s Inspector General has determined that military leaders and a military contractor failed to protect a Green Beret who was electrocuted while showering in his barracks in Iraq.

The 2008 death of 24-year-old Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth has triggered investigations into the other electrocution deaths of U.S. troops and the review by the Defense Department’s IG.

The inspector general says that “multiple systems and organizations” failed and exposed Maseth to “unacceptable risk.” That’s according to a summary of the IG’s findings obtained by The Associated Press.

It specifically spells out that KBR Inc. installed improperly grounded equipment that faulted and led to Maseth’s death.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/07/ap_electrocutions_iraq_072709w/

6 soldiers sue KBR, Halliburton over burn pits

6 soldiers sue KBR, Halliburton over burn pits

The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Jun 4, 2009 18:37:26 EDT

SAN ANTONIO — Soldiers are among six Texans suing Houston-based KBR and Halliburton over burn pits at U.S. camps in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The suit filed in a San Antonio federal court alleges the military contractors burned everything from trucks and tires to human corpses in the large war-zone pits. Plantiffs say the burning waste released toxins that harmed at least 10,000 people.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/06/ap_army_burn_pits_060409/

KBR received $83 million bonus money after troops electrocuted

Senator: KBR received $83 million in bonuses

By Kimberly Hefling - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday May 20, 2009 12:34:10 EDT

WASHINGTON — Military contractor KBR Inc. was paid $83.4 million in bonuses for electrical work in Iraq — much of it after the military’s contract management agency recognized the contractor was doing shoddy electrical work, a senator said Wednesday.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said he learned of the bonuses from Pentagon documents. Dorgan chairs the Democrats’ Policy Committee, which examined at a hearing the electrocution deaths of U.S. troops in Iraq.

At least three troops have been electrocuted while showering in Iraq, and others have been injured and killed in other electrical incidents. Houston-based KBR, which has the responsibility of maintaining electrical work in tens of thousands of U.S. facilities in Iraq, has denied any responsibility in the deaths.

But Dorgan said evidence suggests KBR’s work was involved in some of the deaths. He said $34 million in bonuses was paid three months after Green Beret Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, 24, of Pittsburgh, was electrocuted while showering in his barracks in Iraq on Jan. 2, 2008. Maseth’s family has sued KBR, alleging wrongful death.
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Senator: KBR received $83 million in bonuses


KBR's chief defends electrical work in Iraq
By KIMBERLY HEFLING – 53 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — The chief executive of the military contractor under scrutiny in the electrocution of U.S. troops in Iraq said Wednesday the electrical codes it used in the buildings it maintained in the war zone "were known and thought to be acceptable" by the Pentagon.

William P. Utt, the chairman of Houston-based KBR Inc. told The Associated Press in an interview that the company was not expected to meet the U.S. electrical code in a wartime environment. He said the company was striving to meet the British electrical code, which was more in line with the Iraqi electrical system.

Earlier Wednesday, Jim Childs, an electrical inspector hired by the Army to help review U.S.-run facilities in Iraq testified before the Democrats' policy committee that 90 percent of KBR's wiring in newly constructed buildings in Iraq was not done properly, meaning an estimated 70,000 buildings where troops lived and worked were not safe.

"When I began inspecting the electrical work performed by KBR, my co-workers and I found improper electrical work in every building we inspected," Childs said.
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KBR chief defends electrical work in Iraq

Nine burn-pit lawsuits filed against KBR

Nine burn-pit lawsuits filed against KBR

By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Apr 28, 2009 17:25:00 EDT

Lawyers filed seven class-action lawsuits in seven states on behalf of service members and civilians who say they were sickened by the open-air burn pits on U.S. military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The lawsuits, including a wrongful death suit, were filed against contractor KBR Inc., as well as its parent company, Halliburton, after a Military Times story that ran last October showed that the burn pit at Joint Base Balad, the biggest U.S. base in Iraq, burned everything from petroleum products to dioxin-releasing plastic water bottles to amputated limbs.

Two more lawsuits are expected to be filed Wednesday
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Nine burn-pit lawsuits filed against KBR/

Showering in Iraq deadly enemy for troops

AP IMPACT: More bad wiring imperils troops in Iraq
By KIMBERLY HEFLING – 1 hour ago

WASHINGTON (AP) — Military inspectors are racing to examine 90,000 U.S.-run facilities in Iraq with the goal of repairing electrical problems before more troops are electrocuted or shocked while showering or using appliances.

About one-third of the inspections so far have turned up major electrical problems, according to interviews and an internal military document obtained by The Associated Press. Half of the problems they found have since been fixed, but about 65,000 facilities still must be inspected, which could take the rest of this year. Senior Pentagon officials were on Capitol Hill this week for briefings on the findings.

The work assigned to Task Force SAFE, which oversees the inspections and repairs, is aimed at preventing deaths like that of Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, 24, of Pittsburgh. He died in January 2008, one of at least three soldiers killed while showering since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Scores more soldiers suffered shocks between September 2006 and July 2008, according to a database maintained by KBR Inc., the Houston-based contractor that oversees maintenance at most U.S. facilities in Iraq.

"We got a ton of buildings we know probably aren't safe and we just don't have them done yet," said Jim Childs, an electrician the task force hired to help with the inspections. "It's Russian roulette. I cringe every time I hear of a shock."
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AP IMPACT: More bad wiring imperils troops in Iraq

Ore. Guard tells of possible chemical exposure

Ore. Guard tells of possible chemical exposure
By Joseph B. Frazier - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Feb 12, 2009 5:15:25 EST

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Oregon National Guard has written to 433 of its soldiers to say they may have been exposed to a toxic, carcinogenic chemical at an Iraqi water pumping plant shortly after the war began.

Guard spokesman Maj. Mike Braibish said three companies of the 162nd Infantry Battalion were deployed in Kuwait, and the troops were sent, about 50 at a time, into Iraq to escort employees of Houston-based KBR, which was inspecting oil facilities.

He said no symptoms indicating exposure have been reported to the Oregon Guard.

“That doesn’t mean they won’t be,” Braibish said Wednesday. “Some may have been treated by the Veterans Administration, and we don’t know about it. It’s a possibility.”
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Judge sets date for soldiers’ suit vs. KBR

Judge sets date for soldiers’ suit vs. KBR

The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Feb 2, 2009 20:21:47 EST

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — A federal judge has set a trial date for a lawsuit by 16 Indiana National Guard soldiers who claim they were exposed to a toxic chemical in Iraq.

Judge Richard L. Young on Monday set 10 days for the trial beginning May 3, 2010, in U.S. District Court in Evansville. He also scheduled a settlement conference for Aug. 17.

Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 152nd Infantry, filed a federal lawsuit in December against defense contractor KBR Inc., saying its employees knowingly allowed them to be exposed to sodium dichromate, a known carcinogen, while guarding a water plant in Iraq in 2003.

KBR has said it notified the Army Corps of Engineers after finding the chemical at the site and the Corps concluded the company’s efforts to remediate the situation were effective.

Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class David A. Cedergren was electrocuted in Iraq

AP NewsBreak: Sailor electrocuted
By KIMBERLY HEFLING
Associated Press Writer


WASHINGTON (AP) -- A third U.S. service member has been determined to have been electrocuted in a shower in Iraq, and Navy criminal investigators are investigating, The Associated Press has learned.

Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class David A. Cedergren, 25, of South St. Paul, Minn., died Sept. 11, 2004, while showering. His family was told he died of natural causes.

Late last year, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology changed the manner of Cedergren's death to "accidental," caused by electrocution and inflammation of the heart. The Naval Criminal Investigative Services has reopened an investigation into his death, Ed Buice, a NCIS spokesman, said Monday.

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Linked from ICasualties.org