jgreer
12-21-2011, 03:48 PM
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/21/9605061-8-soldiers-charged-in-alleged-hazing-death-of-gi-family-seeks-truth
Eight U.S. soldiers have been charged in the death of 19-year-old Private Danny Chen, (http://www.dnainfo.com/20111008/lower-east-side-east-village/funeral-services-set-for-manhattan-soldier-who-died-afghanistan)who was found shot to death in a guard tower in Afghanistan. It was first thought that Chen may have committed suicide, but the military's investigation found that the Asian-American had been the target of ethnic slurs and physical attacks at the hands of his fellow soldiers.
Chen was found dead on Oct. 3 with a gunshot wound below the chin; it's not clear from the charges whether the eight soldiers are accused of killing him or whether officials are alleging (http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/8-us-soldiers-charged-in-death-of-comrade-in-afghanistan/2011/12/21/gIQAXmE38O_story.html) that their mistreatment of Chen led him to take his own life.
The military said the soldiers from Chen's company face charges including dereliction of duty, assault, negligent homicide and involuntary manslaughter.
Chen's parents welcomed the charges Wednesday during an emotional news conference at the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association in New York's Chinatown, where their only child grew up and went to school.
"Over two months of agonizing over the loss, it is of some comfort and relief to learn that the Army is taking this seriously," Chen's mother, Su Zhen, 49, speaking in Chinese, said through a family friend who was translating as she spoke and at moments wiped away streaming tears. "(We) hope that the truth will come out and hopefully that what happened will not happen again.
Zhen, who came to the United States in 1987 from Taishan in southern China, said she had not wanted her only child -- a good student who had a lot of friends -- to join the Army. She said she "could not figure out why they (the soldiers) would do this to him."
Eight U.S. soldiers have been charged in the death of 19-year-old Private Danny Chen, (http://www.dnainfo.com/20111008/lower-east-side-east-village/funeral-services-set-for-manhattan-soldier-who-died-afghanistan)who was found shot to death in a guard tower in Afghanistan. It was first thought that Chen may have committed suicide, but the military's investigation found that the Asian-American had been the target of ethnic slurs and physical attacks at the hands of his fellow soldiers.
Chen was found dead on Oct. 3 with a gunshot wound below the chin; it's not clear from the charges whether the eight soldiers are accused of killing him or whether officials are alleging (http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/8-us-soldiers-charged-in-death-of-comrade-in-afghanistan/2011/12/21/gIQAXmE38O_story.html) that their mistreatment of Chen led him to take his own life.
The military said the soldiers from Chen's company face charges including dereliction of duty, assault, negligent homicide and involuntary manslaughter.
Chen's parents welcomed the charges Wednesday during an emotional news conference at the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association in New York's Chinatown, where their only child grew up and went to school.
"Over two months of agonizing over the loss, it is of some comfort and relief to learn that the Army is taking this seriously," Chen's mother, Su Zhen, 49, speaking in Chinese, said through a family friend who was translating as she spoke and at moments wiped away streaming tears. "(We) hope that the truth will come out and hopefully that what happened will not happen again.
Zhen, who came to the United States in 1987 from Taishan in southern China, said she had not wanted her only child -- a good student who had a lot of friends -- to join the Army. She said she "could not figure out why they (the soldiers) would do this to him."