Pfc. Lavena Johnson, 19, was the first woman from Missouri to be killed in the Iraq War. She was found in KBR tent with a broken nose, busted teeth, cut-up lip, burn marks on her genitals, and a gunshot wound to her head.
The US Military told this soldier's family that their daughter died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound...
An Army representative initially told LaVena's father, Dr. John Johnson, that his daughter died of "died of self-inflicted, noncombat injuries," but initially added that it was not a suicide. The subsequent Army investigation reversed this finding and declared LaVena's death a suicide... Dr. Johnson pointed to indications that his daughter had endured a physical struggle... suggesting that "someone might have punched her in the mouth."
A promise by the office of Representative William Lacy Clay to look into the matter produced nothing. The military said that the matter was closed.
Liberal media outlets such as Democracy Now! and some lesser-known blogs have trumpeted the case, to no avail. Now the Katrina-focused group Color of Change is pushing hard for a Congressional petition, and have added a new charge to the fray: rape by her a military serviceperson.
[S]he was raped, murdered, and her body was burned--by someone from her own military base.
From Common Dreams:
“Lavena was clearly happy and seemed in very good health both physically and emotionally.”
Johnson was concerned about the bruising on her face. He was puzzled by the discrepancy in the autopsy report on the location of the gunshot wound. As a US Army veteran and a 25-year US Army civilian employee who had counseled veterans, he was mystified how the exit wound of an M-16 shot could be so small. The hole in Lavena’s head appeared to be more the size of a pistol shot rather than an M-16 round. He questioned why the exit hole was on the left side of her head, when she was right handed. But the gluing of military uniform white gloves onto Lavena’s hands hiding burns on one of her hands is what deepened Dr. Johnson’s concerns that the Army’s investigation into the death of his daughter was flawed.
But this is only the beginning of the coverup: among other things, investigators claimed that Lavena was found fully clothed, although hidden crime scene photos showed this to be a falsification, and that Lavena was, in fact, found in the nude. There was also an unexplained blood trail leaving her KBR tent.
We're not even going to pretend to be objective here: this is the military we're talking about. This might not even make the footnotes on a multi-volume history of their illegal coverups, lies, and defrauding of the treasury. We're just going to say: this is fucking sick, and you should sign this petition for the Democrats to open an investigation here.
More on this story from Common Dreams, Lavena Johnson The Website, and Democracy Now.
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