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Dec-21-2011 13:22
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Eight Soldiers Charged in the Death of Private Danny Chen
Tim King Salem-News.comA private from New York's Chinatown's death happened after many incidents reportedly involving racism and hazing.
 Private Danny, Chen, 19, who was found dead in Afghanistan on 3rd October 2011. U.S. Army photo |
(SALEM) - The U.S. Army has charged eight of its own in the death of a 19-year old Chinese-American soldier in Afghanistan. Private Danny Chen wa found dead in a guard tower from a gunshot wound, it is not clear whether the young teenager killed himself or if he was Murdered, but either way it happened after a long period of hazing from his superiors.
While the death remains extremely disturbing, the Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA), applauds what they see as swift action by the Army, in conducting a full investigation in the case surrounding the death of Private Danny Chen.
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The recent announcement of the charges made against eight soldiers responsible for the death of Private Danny Chen demonstrates the United States Army’s commitment to ensuring that there is accountability for military personnel surrounding the circumstances that have been in question. Discovering the way in which Pvt. Chen had come to his death is a bitter reminder of similar incidents in the history of our community including but not limited to the racially charged massacre in Los Angeles’ Chinatown in 1871 and more recently, the case of Vincent Chin, murdered by disgruntled Detroit Caucasian auto workers in 1982. |
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The Army has charged eight of Chen’s fellow soldiers in connection with his death: 1st Lt. Daniel J. Schwartz, Staff Sgt. Blaine G. Dugas, Staff Sgt. Andrew J. Van Bockel, Sgt. Adam M. Holcomb, Sgt. Jeffrey T. Hurst, Spc. Thomas P. Curtis, Spc. Ryan J. Offutt, and Sgt. Travis F. Carden.
The Department of Defense says all of the accused are assigned to Company C, and posted to Combat Outpost Palace in southern Afghanistan.
Schwartz is charged with eight counts of dereliction of duty.
Dugas is charged with one count in violation of a lawful general regulation, four counts of dereliction of duty, and one count of making a false official statement.
Van Bockel is charged with two counts in violation of a lawful general regulation, three counts of dereliction of duty, four counts of maltreatment, one count of involuntary manslaughter, one count of assault consummated by battery, one count of negligent homicide, and one count of reckless endangerment.
Holcomb is charged with four counts of violation of a lawful general regulation, two counts of dereliction of duty, two counts of maltreatment, one count of destruction of military property, one count of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of assault consummated by battery, one count of negligent homicide, one count of reckless endangerment, and one count of communicating a threat.
Hurst is charged with two counts of violation of a lawful general regulation, two counts of dereliction of duty, two counts of maltreatment, one count of involuntary manslaughter, one count of assault consummated by battery, one count of negligent homicide, and one count of reckless endangerment.
Curtis is charged with two counts of violation of a lawful general regulation, one count of dereliction of duty, six counts of maltreatment, one count of involuntary manslaughter, four counts of assault consummated by battery, one count of negligent homicide, and one count of reckless endangerment.
Offutt is charged with two counts of violation of a lawful general regulation, one count of dereliction of duty, four counts of maltreatment, one count of involuntary manslaughter, three counts of assault consummated by battery, one count of negligent homicide, and one count of reckless endangerment.
Carden is charged with two counts of violation of a lawful general regulation, two counts of maltreatment, and one count of assault.
Hazing
The military is not revealing details beyond their statement. The Washington Post had a statement from Elizabeth OuYang, president of the New York chapter of the Organization of Chinese Americans.
She said:
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Chen’s fellow soldiers dragged him across the floor, threw stones at the back of his head, forced him to hold liquid in his mouth while upside down as part of an apparent hazing, and called him 'Jackie Chen' in a mocking accent in a reference to the action star Jackie Chan. |
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Racism
OCA National President Ken Lee, in a press release, says what is painfully clear is that racism and hate continues to be a significant challenge in the United States.
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The news of the Chen case is a bittersweet moment for me, on one hand I could not imagine the depth of despair that the family has gone through. On the other hand, I am very proud of our OCA-NY chapter working together with their community members and our OCA National Center along with our colleagues in Washington DC to push for accountability and reform by the US Army. |
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Prompted by the Chen case, representatives from the OCA-NY Chapter, OCA National Center, Japanese American Citizens League, Asian American Justice Center, and former Marine Captain Bruce Yamashita, presently a practicing attorney in the greater DC area, attended a meeting on 14th December at the Pentagon to discuss a number of concerns for the health and well-being of APA women and men in uniform.
Most notably, concerns centered on institutional culture and procedures that may be ineffective in both proactively and reactively dealing with hate motivated harassment and discrimination. OCA’s Interim Executive Director, Tom Hayashi says a number of suggestions have been received by the top brass of the Army and their group currently awaits their response.
OCA’s Interim Executive Director, Tom Hayashi, says they have had a long standing tradition of support for all branches of the military and embrace the American value of defending the Constitution.
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Because so many APAs throughout our history have and continue to make significant contributions in the armed forces, OCA is committed to working with the Pentagon to protect the women and men who proudly serve, we have and always will be a resource to the Army, and I look forward to working closely with our liaison on the larger issues as the community struggles to heal from the wound of losing one of their sons in uniform. |
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With regard to suicide in the Army, new data was released by the Dept. of Defense for the month of November.
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Among active-duty soldiers, there were seven potential suicides: none have been confirmed as suicide and seven remain under investigation. For October 2011, the Army reported 17 potential suicides among active-duty soldiers. Since the release of that report, four cases have been confirmed as suicide and 13 cases remain under investigation. |
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Racism by Region
The military suffers from racism because it represents the United States as a whole, and with that come service members from states in the deep south where racism is still rampant and problematic. Raised in Chinatown in New York City, I suspect Danny Chen probably didn't deal with racism very often. When he joined the Army he was immersed into a world of hillbillies and poorly educated people who turned to the Army because there was nowhere else for them to go. These individuals clash with those who joined the Army because they wanted to serve, not for the retirements benefits. When they gain rank and power, they are like Gods over a person like Danny Chen, a private who has no say, considered in the Marines a 'non-rate' due to his low rank, probably the same thing in the Army. It isn't fair, young people quickly become disillusioned and sometimes they give up.
Sexist activity toward women is a major problem and racism toward foreign nationals is where Americans impart their true systems of belief.
I know how it goes, the U.S. military can be a horribly abusive place for a young private, who in this event was apparently regularly harassed by men who were all superior in rank, and regardless of its status as an all-volunteer force, the Army itself is packed with problematic individuals.
I have written about the death of U.S. Army soldier Laveena Johnson, who was raped and murdered; stabbed, shot, beaten and broken and had her pubic area set on fire. This, the Army deemed a suicide. Her father is a doctor, the idea that her death was not investigated as a homicide is a slap in the face of all women.
Those charged in this case are all men of rank, and are all either non-commissioned officers or officers. I sincerely doubt that the Army has safeguard in place to protect its people from this type of brutality.
Sources:
http://www.ocanational.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=752&Itemid=104
http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=66561
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Tim King: Salem-News.com Editor and Writer
Tim King has more than twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 covering the war in Afghanistan, and he was in Iraq over the summer of 2008, reporting from the war while embedded with both the U.S. Army and the Marines. Tim is a former U.S. Marine.
Tim holds awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing, including the Silver Spoke Award by the National Coalition of Motorcyclists (2011), Excellence in Journalism Award by the Oregon Confederation of Motorcycle Clubs (2010), Oregon AP Award for Spot News Photographer of the Year (2004), First-place Electronic Media Award in Spot News, Las Vegas, (1998), Oregon AP Cooperation Award (1991); and several others including the 2005 Red Cross Good Neighborhood Award for reporting. Tim has several years of experience in network affiliate news TV stations, having worked as a reporter and photographer at NBC, ABC and FOX stations in Arizona, Nevada and Oregon. Tim was a member of the National Press Photographer's Association for several years and is a current member of the Orange County Press Club.
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Mike December 22, 2011 3:47 pm (Pacific time)
A comprehensive examination of racism in the military with primary sources sounds like a great idea, but when using primary sources, which is the only intellectually honest way to do an analysis, may not acknowledge facts that some may think they are. While I served back in the 60's, we had people of all races, including many Asian-Americans, including career Asian American military from WWII and the Korean War. We all got along, even though back in the world, many American towns were being torched. So many people have skewed views because of the disinformation from that time period, even though the records are clear. The same thing holds true today for those who have an earnest desire to use objective facts. Good Luck with your projected series. You may consider the investigations being done on gang members in the military. Oh, before I forget, you recall the African-American Muslim who attacked an killed many of his brothers in arms during the start of the Iraq war? You consider that attack a racist act? The one in Ft. Hood? Also try counting which American military personnel were killing other Americans. The military has some highly honorable people serving, and like us Vietnam veterans, many have been tarred by those with reckless agendas. Please keep in mind that this article is about a tragic suicide of a Chinese American, while we also have a National Commander of a Veterans organization, the American Legion, nearly 100 years old who is also a Chinese immigrant. Most American Legion members are combat vets. Nearly all legislation created and passed to benefit veterans have been inniated by the Legion and the Disabled American Veterans. We have zero tolerance for racism.
Mike December 22, 2011 9:06 am (Pacific time)
The National Commander of the American Legion, which has millions of members, is a Vietnam veteran Named Fang A. Wong who was born in China. (http://www.legion.org/commander/bio ). Somehow, I think there’s more to this sad story than meets the eye. I hope there’s a BUNCH more if the prosecution thinks it’s going to be able to prove BRD an “involuntary manslaughter” charge for the victim’s self-inflicted gunshot wound. Playing armchair SJA here, but sounds like somebody in the JAG office is trying to get creative and “send a message” - never a good idea, and usually means somebody’s serving his/her own agenda. Of course, the commander has to actually prefer the charge, which means the commander approves of the charge and spec. Is there influence from above? It gets tough in the military, and dealing with adversity is helpful in the training process in my opinion. A Sgt Cravitz used to put rocks in my backpack as we would run @ Camp Pendelton, As we ran he would say you are going to die Doc when you get to Nam. He scared the pooh out of me, however when I got to Nam guess who the Gunny was?! He was a good one. I patched him up after being shot by a sniper. The charge of racism sounds bogus, because if you looked at the majority of racist' acts in the military it is by blacks and hispanics on whites, just like in civilian life, this reality. Do a research on gangbangers in the military, pretty bad people, pretty damn bad. P.S. Thanks to all those training NCO's - without their intense training methods many of us would probably not have made it in 'Nam. Combat is not PC folks, nor should br the training. As far as screams of racism by community activists, well let's let the real evidence come out before dancing to the fiddle of the activists, many who are the real racists.
Editor: Your tone sounds very similar to some of the people we normally don't allow to comment here, so you were a navy Corpsman in Vietnam? Are you going to try to tell me as a Vietnam Vet that there is not a racism problem in the military? How about toward the Vietnamese? I have to say I hop you're telling the truth because misrepresenting military service is something that sits very poorly with me and I have a great deal of respect for Corpsmen. 'Combat is not PC folks'- what does that mean? I know so many people who have combat backgrounds and they don't just forget the rules and go willy nilly when the bullets start flying and declare "rules don't count now". The best warriors are super cool under conditions that would make most of us lose our minds in the first five minutes. Regardless of the military service, the problems remain. "Screams of racism" you're damned right, and these screams will always sound out when we know they need to. I absolutely know a great deal more about this, since readers aren't convinced, it sounds like its time for a series on racism in the U.S. military, thanks for the inspiration.
Corey December 21, 2011 5:54 pm (Pacific time)
Most everyone who has made it through basic and is in a deployed unit understands the brotherhodd between the soldiers, regardless of race/creed/color. There are the weak ones though, and there is no system to get rid of them, no procedure for disposing of these racist pieces of sh*t. Unfortunately some weak CO's play patty-cake with these weakies and allow them to stay in. They are easy to spot in civilian life, they brag about having served and refuse to criticize anything about the crooked wars they fight and the murder of civilians. . That simply demonstrates their lack of chaacter and explains why we have so many problems with racist weaklings and right wing fascist Nazi's. My son's unit had a Muslim soldier who was okay with the USA, he is a highly decorated hero who saved the lives of many of his Christian American soldiers. 8 members of the military have been charged in the death of this soldier and will be tried under the UCMJ, that's no guarantee of justice but at least they have been exposed.
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