Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Cleveland Plain Dealer
June 10, 2008 By Brian Albrecht, Plain Dealer Reporter
The Army wants to send a former local officer, wrongly accused of murdering Iraqi civilians in 2004, back to Iraq or Afghanistan.
Lt. Erick Anderson, 29, formerly of Twinsburg, received orders telling him to report back to duty in August.
Anderson left the service in 2006, six months after the Army dropped all charges against him. But he remained on Individual Ready Reserve, subject to recall.
He was serving with the 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment, attached to the 1st Cavalry Division, when he faced murder charges relating to the shooting deaths of two Iraqi civilians in Baghdad.
The case was dismissed when an Army sergeant convicted of the murders reversed his earlier statements that Anderson was involved. The sergeant admitted he got a lighter sentence for implicating Anderson.
U.S. Rep. Steven LaTourette, who helped Anderson when the charges were first filed, said he was "horrified" that the Army had ordered the soldier, who has since had post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosed, back to active combat duty.
"What happened to him the first time was abysmal," LaTourette said. "This is unbelievable."
LaTourette said he sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, asking that Anderson be removed from the Individual Ready Reserve or have his active-duty orders rescinded.
"If I get a negative response from the secretary, I'm fully prepared to introduce legislation to right this wrong," LaTourette said.
Washington attorney Neal Puckett said he will ask the Army to rescind the order this week.
Puckett defended Anderson against the murder charges. Puckett said Anderson told him that after he got the orders, he went three days without sleep, beset with nightmares. That was when Puckett told the soldier to get a psychiatric exam.
The Air Force psychiatrist who conducted the exam said in a letter to Puckett that Anderson had a chronic case of post-traumatic stress disorder, which "significantly impairs his ability to function in a military environment."
The psychiatrist added, "I do not expect him to regain psychological health adequate to return to military duty" and recommended removing Anderson from the Individual Ready Reserve, or IRR.
Maj. Maria Quon of the Army Human Resources Command in St. Louis said in an e-mail that privacy regulations prevented her from commenting on a soldier's personal situation.
But she did note that there is a process that allows an IRR member to request a delay or exemption from involuntary mobilization and that once that request is made, the soldier will not be mobilized until the case is adjudicated.
Since leaving the Army, Anderson has gotten married and is living in Iowa, where he works as a project engineer.
Linda Anderson, the soldier's mother, said his military orders, mistakenly delivered, were dropped on her front porch in Twinsburg, on her birthday. She had just taken her son to the airport following his weekend visit.
"My heart was pounding, I couldn't breathe," she recalled. "I mostly remain in complete disbelief that they would even think of doing this."
Though her son declined to comment on the advice of his attorney, she said he plans to fight the orders.
"Every day I call Erick and he says, 'Mom, you've just got to trust that we're working on this,' " she said.
"I just have to hope and trust that the Army will do the right thing this time and release him - not just from this, but all future military obligations."
For now she said there isn't much she can do except wait, crossing off the days on the calendar until the day he's due to report for active duty, and wonder: "Is it ever going to be over for him?"
June 10, 2008 By Brian Albrecht, Plain Dealer Reporter
The Army wants to send a former local officer, wrongly accused of murdering Iraqi civilians in 2004, back to Iraq or Afghanistan.
Lt. Erick Anderson, 29, formerly of Twinsburg, received orders telling him to report back to duty in August.
Anderson left the service in 2006, six months after the Army dropped all charges against him. But he remained on Individual Ready Reserve, subject to recall.
He was serving with the 1st Battalion, 41st Infantry Regiment, attached to the 1st Cavalry Division, when he faced murder charges relating to the shooting deaths of two Iraqi civilians in Baghdad.
The case was dismissed when an Army sergeant convicted of the murders reversed his earlier statements that Anderson was involved. The sergeant admitted he got a lighter sentence for implicating Anderson.
U.S. Rep. Steven LaTourette, who helped Anderson when the charges were first filed, said he was "horrified" that the Army had ordered the soldier, who has since had post-traumatic stress disorder diagnosed, back to active combat duty.
"What happened to him the first time was abysmal," LaTourette said. "This is unbelievable."
LaTourette said he sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, asking that Anderson be removed from the Individual Ready Reserve or have his active-duty orders rescinded.
"If I get a negative response from the secretary, I'm fully prepared to introduce legislation to right this wrong," LaTourette said.
Washington attorney Neal Puckett said he will ask the Army to rescind the order this week.
Puckett defended Anderson against the murder charges. Puckett said Anderson told him that after he got the orders, he went three days without sleep, beset with nightmares. That was when Puckett told the soldier to get a psychiatric exam.
The Air Force psychiatrist who conducted the exam said in a letter to Puckett that Anderson had a chronic case of post-traumatic stress disorder, which "significantly impairs his ability to function in a military environment."
The psychiatrist added, "I do not expect him to regain psychological health adequate to return to military duty" and recommended removing Anderson from the Individual Ready Reserve, or IRR.
Maj. Maria Quon of the Army Human Resources Command in St. Louis said in an e-mail that privacy regulations prevented her from commenting on a soldier's personal situation.
But she did note that there is a process that allows an IRR member to request a delay or exemption from involuntary mobilization and that once that request is made, the soldier will not be mobilized until the case is adjudicated.
Since leaving the Army, Anderson has gotten married and is living in Iowa, where he works as a project engineer.
Linda Anderson, the soldier's mother, said his military orders, mistakenly delivered, were dropped on her front porch in Twinsburg, on her birthday. She had just taken her son to the airport following his weekend visit.
"My heart was pounding, I couldn't breathe," she recalled. "I mostly remain in complete disbelief that they would even think of doing this."
Though her son declined to comment on the advice of his attorney, she said he plans to fight the orders.
"Every day I call Erick and he says, 'Mom, you've just got to trust that we're working on this,' " she said.
"I just have to hope and trust that the Army will do the right thing this time and release him - not just from this, but all future military obligations."
For now she said there isn't much she can do except wait, crossing off the days on the calendar until the day he's due to report for active duty, and wonder: "Is it ever going to be over for him?"