Wonderland or Not

Found dead on the mili­tary base in Balad, Iraq in July, 2005, a short time after she began ser­ving there, the Uni­ted Sta­tes Army ruled 19 year old Pfc. Lavena Johnson’s death as a sui­cide resul­ting from a self-inflicted M-16 rifle shot wound, and sent her home in a box. This ruling des­pite the fact she was found with a bro­ken nose, black eye, loose teeth, acid burns on her geni­tals (which some sug­gest were to eli­mi­nate DNA evi­dence of rape), a trail of blood lea­ding away from her tent, and a bullet hole in her head . Five years later I m hard pres­sed to find any men­tion of Lavena John­son, save a rare OMG — WTF post from someone who has only recently dis­co­ve­red the case. There was some cove­rage in Aus­tra­lia last year, as the story sud­denly pop­ped up there as if it hadn’t been heard before.

I wrote of it in The New Yor­ker, Obama, and Real Tra­gedy, only a cou­ple of years ago — the first of seve­ral posts I wrote on her case. Though the inci­dent occu­rred in the sum­mer of 2005, that sum­mer of 2008 was the first I had come across it. The cove­rage at it’s peak was found most often in a few pro­gres­sive news­pa­pers and blogs. Des­pite a peti­tion with 50,000 sig­na­tu­res ins­ti­ga­ted by Color of Change, and in the sum­mer of 2008 an over­sight hea­ring on sexual assault (by the Sub­com­mit­tee on Natio­nal Secu­rity and Foreign Affairs) — to address sexual abuse in the mili­tary, the hope that Lavena’s case could be pre­sen­ted were shat­te­red. Lavena’s case was not addres­sed, the case remains a sui­cide we all know never occurred.

Time pas­ses, I unders­tand. Obama gets elec­ted, banks fail, we lose a our money, tea bag­gers go nuts, oil gets spi­lled, Lind­sey Lohan gets drunk, Michael Jack­son dies, someone is dan­cing with the stars, and insu­rance com­pa­nies win. For all our los­ses we are preoc­cu­pied, and a mur­de­red young soli­der and the sub­se­quent cover-up, no mat­ter how horri­fic, slip our mind.

That Lavena John­son is not the first, and will not be the last, bear kee­ping in mind, on this memo­rial day.

Lavena John­son: The Silent Truth

Link Collec­tion:

Lavena John­son

LaVena L. John­son
Lavena John­son
Press release from Color of Change.org(50,000 sign peti­tion)
Female Buyers Beware of Obama’s Call to Ser­vice
Who Mur­de­red Army Pvt Lavena John­son?
The Cover-Up of a Sol­diers’ Death
The tra­gic story of LaVena John­son
Defense Dept. Uncoo­pe­ra­tive in Sexual Assault Hea­rings
LaVena Johnson’s Update:Oversight Hea­ring on Sexual Assault in the Mili­tary This Mor­ning at 10:00 EST
Color of Change Launches Cam­paign to Get hea­rings for LaVena John­sonTra­cey Bar­nett: Women GIs in fear of the enemy in their army
Sui­cide or Mur­der? Three Years After the Death of Pfc. LaVena John­son in Iraq, Her Parents Con­ti­nue Their Call for a Con­gres­sio­nal Inves­ti­ga­tionU.S. Army Pri­vate LaVena Lynn John­son, RIP
The Next Pat Tillman-Style Cover-Up?
LaVena John­son: Raped and Mur­de­red on a Mili­tary Base in Iraq
LaVena L. John­sonLaVena John­son: Mur­de­red By Her Collea­gues, Igno­red By The Army
Jus­tice for Pfc. LaVena Johnson