seruriermarshal
05-28-2004, 03:17 AM
Iraqi captors killed Salem soldier Walters, Army says
By ABE ESTIMADA, kgw.com Staff
SALEM – Sgt. Donald Walters was captured then killed by his Iraqi captors after his U.S. Army convoy took a wrong turn into the town of Nasiriyah during the beginning of the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
A photo of U.S. Army Sgt. Donald Walters of Salem, which was on display during a past memorial ceremony. (AP Photo) Walters, a Salem man who was thought to have been killed in action and posthumously awarded the Silver Star for his valor in combat, is now considered a prisoner of war, according to new, startling information from Army investigators who relied on accounts from two Iraqi ambulance drivers.
Walters was separated from his unit after being captured, taken to another building by up to half a dozen Fedayeen rebels then shot twice in the back. It was the Iraqi ambulance drivers who transported his body to a hospital, the Army said.
Walters’ commanders credited his actions for helping his comrades escape without further loss of life for the unit.
The details of Walters’ execution outraged his parents, Norman and Arlene Walters, and Oregon Congresswoman Darlene Hooley, who together have been pressing the Defense Department for more information about their son’s death.
“I want to express my anger and absolute disgust who flouted every rule of international law, every religious and moral commandment, and every principle of common decency in committing such an act against a helpless prisoner of war,” Hooley said.
“This was an act of barbarism, an act of evil and inhumanity that cannot be justified even in war. I know that civilized people around the world will recoil when they learn of this atrocity.”
Norman and Arlene Walters and Hooley met with reporters in Salem on Thursday afternoon to talk about the new details surrounding his death.
“I’m very angry,” said Arlene Walters, who was wearing a necklace with her son’s picture. “They took him and shot him in the back. That’s not how you’re supposed to treat prisoners of war according to the Geneva Convention.”
Army investigators briefed Walters’ widow, Stacy Walters, in Kansas City about the new information on Monday and his parents on Tuesday. As a result, Walters was decorated the Prisoner of War Medal. The medal was given to Walters’ parents and his brother and sister at his parents’ home.
Norman and Arlene Walters suspected that their son was imprisoned because he was seen fighting the enemy but seemingly disappeared sometime during the shooting. Other Americans last saw him running alone down a road, she said. Still, news that their son was captured by the enemy – then killed –- came as a shock.
“When you take into consideration what’s been going on at (Abu Ghraib) prison in Iraq, it’s totally ridiculous that we should stress and make so much emphasis on something of that nature when they’re doing these terrible things to our own soldiers,” Norman Walters said.
The attack on Walters’ 507th Maintenance Company from Fort Bliss, Texas captured national attention because Private Jessica Lynch was also part of the unit. Early Pentagon reports said that Lynch fought the enemy until she could no longer fire her weapon. But Lynch, who was later rescued by U.S. special forces, said she never fired a shot.
Critics have said the Lynch story was manufactured by the Pentagon at a time when the invasion appeared to be bogging down.
Later, Army investigators said it was Walters rather than Lynch who fought to the end. But the newest account of the ambush, which resulted in the deaths of 11 soldiers and six captured GIs, gives a slightly different version of the fight.
Defense investigators confirmed the ambulance drivers' account by matching Walters' DNA to a blood splatter on the wall where he was executed, said Maj. Arnold Strong, spokesman for the Oregon National Guard. He died from two gunshot wounds to the back, fired from more than 20 feet away, according to Strong's account of the investigation findings.
In the chaotic opening moments of the ambush, Walters was separated from his unit.
Empty gun magazines were found near where Walters was captured, suggesting he fired until ammunition ran out. Before his capture, he was shot in the leg and stabbed three times in the abdomen with a bayonet, Strong cited the report as saying.
Investigators said they believe Fedayeen rebels captured Walters and held him separately from the rest of his unit. The two Iraqi ambulance drivers said Walters was guarded by six Fedayeen. They saw the guards lead Walters into a building.
Several hours later, Walters’ body was brought out of the building after he had been shot. It was not clear whether Walters would have died from the bayonet wounds had he not been shot in captivity, Strong said.
“In summary, (Sgt.) Don (Walters) performed his duties in the extraordinary manner, which you have believed he did all along,” said Col. Brit P. Mallow, commander of the Department of Defense of Defense Criminal Investigation Task Force.
“He did not falter at any time and continued to conduct himself as a professional soldier until he was captured and, as is evidenced by accounts we have collected, even after he was captured.”
Walters had initially been awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. Walters, a veteran of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, is also survived by three daughters. Because of Walters' new prisoner of war status, his daughters are entitled to additional benefits, the Army said.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_052704_news_walters_death.2039a569e.html
By ABE ESTIMADA, kgw.com Staff
SALEM – Sgt. Donald Walters was captured then killed by his Iraqi captors after his U.S. Army convoy took a wrong turn into the town of Nasiriyah during the beginning of the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
A photo of U.S. Army Sgt. Donald Walters of Salem, which was on display during a past memorial ceremony. (AP Photo) Walters, a Salem man who was thought to have been killed in action and posthumously awarded the Silver Star for his valor in combat, is now considered a prisoner of war, according to new, startling information from Army investigators who relied on accounts from two Iraqi ambulance drivers.
Walters was separated from his unit after being captured, taken to another building by up to half a dozen Fedayeen rebels then shot twice in the back. It was the Iraqi ambulance drivers who transported his body to a hospital, the Army said.
Walters’ commanders credited his actions for helping his comrades escape without further loss of life for the unit.
The details of Walters’ execution outraged his parents, Norman and Arlene Walters, and Oregon Congresswoman Darlene Hooley, who together have been pressing the Defense Department for more information about their son’s death.
“I want to express my anger and absolute disgust who flouted every rule of international law, every religious and moral commandment, and every principle of common decency in committing such an act against a helpless prisoner of war,” Hooley said.
“This was an act of barbarism, an act of evil and inhumanity that cannot be justified even in war. I know that civilized people around the world will recoil when they learn of this atrocity.”
Norman and Arlene Walters and Hooley met with reporters in Salem on Thursday afternoon to talk about the new details surrounding his death.
“I’m very angry,” said Arlene Walters, who was wearing a necklace with her son’s picture. “They took him and shot him in the back. That’s not how you’re supposed to treat prisoners of war according to the Geneva Convention.”
Army investigators briefed Walters’ widow, Stacy Walters, in Kansas City about the new information on Monday and his parents on Tuesday. As a result, Walters was decorated the Prisoner of War Medal. The medal was given to Walters’ parents and his brother and sister at his parents’ home.
Norman and Arlene Walters suspected that their son was imprisoned because he was seen fighting the enemy but seemingly disappeared sometime during the shooting. Other Americans last saw him running alone down a road, she said. Still, news that their son was captured by the enemy – then killed –- came as a shock.
“When you take into consideration what’s been going on at (Abu Ghraib) prison in Iraq, it’s totally ridiculous that we should stress and make so much emphasis on something of that nature when they’re doing these terrible things to our own soldiers,” Norman Walters said.
The attack on Walters’ 507th Maintenance Company from Fort Bliss, Texas captured national attention because Private Jessica Lynch was also part of the unit. Early Pentagon reports said that Lynch fought the enemy until she could no longer fire her weapon. But Lynch, who was later rescued by U.S. special forces, said she never fired a shot.
Critics have said the Lynch story was manufactured by the Pentagon at a time when the invasion appeared to be bogging down.
Later, Army investigators said it was Walters rather than Lynch who fought to the end. But the newest account of the ambush, which resulted in the deaths of 11 soldiers and six captured GIs, gives a slightly different version of the fight.
Defense investigators confirmed the ambulance drivers' account by matching Walters' DNA to a blood splatter on the wall where he was executed, said Maj. Arnold Strong, spokesman for the Oregon National Guard. He died from two gunshot wounds to the back, fired from more than 20 feet away, according to Strong's account of the investigation findings.
In the chaotic opening moments of the ambush, Walters was separated from his unit.
Empty gun magazines were found near where Walters was captured, suggesting he fired until ammunition ran out. Before his capture, he was shot in the leg and stabbed three times in the abdomen with a bayonet, Strong cited the report as saying.
Investigators said they believe Fedayeen rebels captured Walters and held him separately from the rest of his unit. The two Iraqi ambulance drivers said Walters was guarded by six Fedayeen. They saw the guards lead Walters into a building.
Several hours later, Walters’ body was brought out of the building after he had been shot. It was not clear whether Walters would have died from the bayonet wounds had he not been shot in captivity, Strong said.
“In summary, (Sgt.) Don (Walters) performed his duties in the extraordinary manner, which you have believed he did all along,” said Col. Brit P. Mallow, commander of the Department of Defense of Defense Criminal Investigation Task Force.
“He did not falter at any time and continued to conduct himself as a professional soldier until he was captured and, as is evidenced by accounts we have collected, even after he was captured.”
Walters had initially been awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. Walters, a veteran of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, is also survived by three daughters. Because of Walters' new prisoner of war status, his daughters are entitled to additional benefits, the Army said.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_052704_news_walters_death.2039a569e.html