This is a case that I just haven't been able to stop thinking about.
LaVena Johnson died in Iraq on July 19, 2005. The seemingly happy and healthy 19-year old Private First Class soldier was found dead by a gunshot wound with bruising, a dislocated shoulder, an indication that someone tried to set her body on fire, and a number of other signs including a blood trail outside of the tent she was found in. But despite all of these factors, the U.S. Army declared that her death was caused by suicide and shut the case quietly.
Although the Johnson family have been desperately trying to get her case reopened, the Army has refused. Shocking, I know.
LaVena's father, Dr. John Johnson, believes that his daughter was murdered, and that the murder was connected to sexual assault. Check out his speech talking about LaVena's case:
Sign the petition and/or contact your representative to get LaVena's case reopened. Now.
You can also find out more at Shakes and Reclusive Leftist.
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Thanks for helping bring this story to light, Vanessa. I just sent a letter to Sen. Dole, who is on the Senate Armed Services committee.
I don't have much hope that the GOP members of the committees, especially Sen. Dole, will do much, however. It's amazing how quickly the "support our troops" mantra becomes irrelevant when it comes to supporting actual people serving in uniform. LaVena -- and the thousands of women serving in uniform who are victims of unprosecuted, often unreported sexual and physical assault -- deserve better.
I was going to say the same thing, Fr. Chris.
"Support the troops" is nothing but a catchy bumper-sticker slogan to those people. They couldn't care less about actual soldiers. When push comes to shove, they're more interested in protecting "the military" (but not those who serve) than seeking truth and justice.
Yup. It's all about saving their own butts...just like with that Air Force case that recently came up. The military is also full of rules that serve no purpose other than for them to be able to say "See, we did our part, don't blame us".
On a related note, Feministing ran a story a couple of weeks ago about the female Air Force cadet who is being court-martialed for her own rape. I wanted to let y'all know I wrote to Gov. Rick Perry here in Texas. One of his staffers sent me back a note saying that Gov. Perry supports our troops, but that he has no jurisdiction over military matters. :^/
Is anyone else having technical difficulties with the petition?
I tried to sign the petition but couldn't do so without a code.
The code is at the bottom of the blurb, before you fill out your information.
VERY disturbing. Look to the bottom right for the code.
Thanks so much for giving this story more attention, V.
The Johnsons need all the support you can give them. Let EVERYONE you know hear about this story. Lavena's father, Dr. Johnson, has not given up on her case and was just at a press conference held at the Vets for Peace convention in St Louis. Don't let this story fade out.
Thanks RockStar and Grace for pointing out the code. Petition signed and forwarded!
Just keeping it going.