"The
first casualty when war comes is truth." - 1918 US Senator Hiram
Warren Johnson
IT IS THE SOLDIER...
- It is the soldier,
not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.
- It is the soldier,
not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.
- It is the soldier,
not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.
- It is the soldier,
not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial.
- It is the soldier
who salutes the flag, who serves under the flag, and whose coffin
is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag.
- ~by author uncertain
(possibly Charles H. Province) Also
given credit to writing this: Lt. Col.(Rev.) Father Denis Edward O'Brien,
USMC~
Archives
of old press releases (all
before 2003) here
The
latest updates:
U.S.
pays tribute to Cdn. friendly fire victims
May
21st 2005
Four Canadian soldiers
killed by American friendly fire in Afghanistan three years ago were
honoured at a special tribute in the United States on Monday.
The soldiers were
remembered in a ceremony at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, where their names
were added to a wall honouring Americans who died in combat -- marking
the first time that names of non-U.S. soldiers were added to the memorial
wall.
On Monday, Col.
Michael Steele paid tribute to the memory of the Canadians and three
American soldiers who died in Iraq. "Freedom is not free," he told the
crowd. "Anyone who fights with us is a brother," said Steele. "We come
here to remember, not so much to grieve for the fallen, but rather to
lift them up."
Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer,
Sgt. Marc Leger, Pte. Richard Green and Pte. Nathan Smith died after
a U.S. fighter pilot, Maj. Harry Schmidt, dropped a 225-kilogram bomb
on them April 18, 2002.
The Canadian soldiers
were conducting a nighttime military exercise near Kandahar when the
bomb was dropped. Schmidt, an Illinois National Guard pilot, said he
mistook the gunfire for an attack from Taliban fighters and said his
superiors never told him they would be conducting exercises that night.
The men were the
first Canadian soldiers to die in combat since the Korean War. In addition
to the four who died in the blast, eight others were injured. All were
members of the Edmonton-based Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.
Monday's event,
held on the base of the 101st Airborne, included 180 regiment soldiers
dressed in fatigues and berets. They were joined by 14 members of the
Princess Pats.
The tribute to the
fallen soldiers left shaken family members in tears. "Marc fought with
his brothers and now he's with his brothers,'' said a shaken Richard
Leger, father of Sgt. Marc Leger. "It means an awful lot to me to understand
that.''
Meanwhile, Pte.
Smith's father Lloyd said the tribute was "not a political gesture."
"This is coming from the men on the ground. This is coming from the
heart. It's very important for our sons to be recognized by the rank
and file."
Last year, Schmidt
was found guilty on four counts of dereliction of duty, for which he
was grounded, reprimanded and docked one month's salary. Charges against
the flight leader, Maj. William Umbach, were dropped and he was permitted
to retire from the Air National Guard.
The Legers have
framed a copy of Schmidt's reprimand and have it hanging over their
fireplace. "There is no such thing as closure for us," Richard Leger
said. "Remembrance Day is always going to be there for us."
Also honoured at
the ceremony were Cpl. Pierre Piche, Specialist John Sullivan and Sgt.
Ariel Rico, who died in Iraq in November 2003.
With files from
The Canadian Press
'Friendly
fire' pilot's appeal dismissed
July 19th 2004
BARKSDALE AIR FORCE
BASE, LA. - The U.S. air force has rejected the appeal by the fighter
pilot
Maj. Harry Schmidt
had been found guilty of dereliction of duty, reprimanded and fined
at a hearing in New Orleans on July 6. He immediately appealed the verdict.
The air force announced
Monday that Lt.-Gen. Bruce Carlson had rejected Schmidt's appeal, but
did not elaborate on his reasoning in coming to the decision. But
Schmidt's case is not over yet. It will be sent to a Gen. Hal Homberg,
commander of combat command, for a final decision, the U.S. air force
said.
In his appeal, Schmidt
said the punishment – a month's wages and a letter of reprimand – was
"a desire to mount a public relations campaign rather than actually
attempt to see justice done."
Pte. Richard Green,
Pte. Nathan Smith, Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer and Sgt. Marc Leger were killed
when Schmidt dropped a 250-kilogram bomb on Canadians carrying out night
exercises.
Six other Canadians
were injured in the April 2002 bombing.
Schmidt maintains
he believed he was under attack from Taliban fighters.
He was originally
charged with manslaughter, which could have sent him to prison for six
months. But in June, the case was shifted out of the air force's criminal
trial system. Schmidt instead faced his unit commander in a non-judicial
hearing.
Carlson, who handed
down the verdict on July 6, said in a letter of reprimand that Schmidt
"acted shamefully" and exhibited "arrogance and a lack of flight discipline"
when he bombed the Canadians.
Schmidt, a decorated
Navy pilot and former instructor at the Navy's "Top Gun" fighter pilot
school, lost his flying privileges. But he was allowed to remain with
his National Guard unit, and there is a chance he may fly again in the
future.
Written by CBC News
Online staff
'Friendly
fire' pilot appeals verdict
July 15 2004
A U.S. pilot found
guilty of dereliction of duty in the bombing of Canadian soldiers in
Afghanistan has appealed the verdict. In his appeal filed Thursday,
Maj. Harry Schmidt said the punishment – a month's wages and a letter
of reprimand – was "a desire to mount a public relations campaign rather
than actually attempt to see justice done."
In early July, a
U.S. military court found Schmidt guilty of dereliction of duty after
earlier charges of manslaughter and aggravated assault were reduced.
In his reprimand,
U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Bruce Carlson wrote that Schmidt "acted shamefully…exhibiting
arrogance and a lack of flight discipline."
Pte. Richard Green,
Pte. Nathan Smith, Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer and Sgt. Marc Leger were killed
when Schmidt and another pilot, Maj. William Umbach, dropped a 250-kilogram
bomb on Canadians carrying out night exercises. Six more Canadians were
injured in the April 2002 bombing.
Schmidt maintains
he believed he was under attack from Taliban fighters. In his appeal,
he argues that he's being made a scapegoat, and that the ruling will
have serious consequences for future pilots.
"Hesitation and
indecision out of the fear that judgment will be second-guessed are
potentially more dangerous to combat pilots than honest mistakes made
by good officers under the stress of combat."
Written by CBC News
Online staff
U.S.
'friendly fire' pilot appealing conviction
July 7th 2004
LANGLEY, VA. - A
U.S. fighter pilot who dropped a bomb that killed four Canadian soldiers
in Afghanistan plans to appeal his dereliction of duty conviction, his
lawyer said Wednesday. Charles Gittins said his client, Major Harry
Schmidt, gave him the instructions after a morning round of golf.
Gittins said the
appeal will be filed by Monday's deadline.
Schmidt was given
a letter of reprimand and ordered to forfeit $5,600 US in pay.
In the reprimand,
Lt.-Gen. Bruce Carlson, who handed down the verdict, wrote that Schmidt
"acted shamefully…exhibiting arrogance and a lack of flight discipline."
"The victims of your callous misbehaviour were from one of our staunch
allies in Operation Enduring Freedom and were your comrades-in-arms,"
he wrote.
Gittins said Schmidt's
comments about the reprimand "could not be printed in a family newspaper."
"The letter of reprimand
was not based on the evidence," Gittins said. "The general [Carlson]
acted arbitrarily and capriciously and we believe he acted on evidence
outside the record."
During an interview
with NBC Illinois on Wednesday, Schmidt's wife Lisa blasted military
officials for the tone of the reprimand. "The military has taken my
husband's career, his character and sabotaged it," said Lisa Schmidt.
"They are so unjust, so incorrect and so blatantly lying about my husband,
his character, his integrity, his skill level and his will."
Under the U.S. military
justice system, Schmidt's appeal must be filed through Lt.-Gen. Carlson
and will be judged by his superior officer.
The bomb dropped
by Schmidt on April 17, 2002, killed Pte. Nathan Smith, Pte. Richard
Green, Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer and Sgt. Marc Leger.
Sgt. Leger's widow,
Marley, said she was disappointed but not surprised that Schmidt is
appealing. "It just reiterates the fact that he doesn't feel any remorse
and just continues to drag this on," she said.
Written by CBC News
Online staff
U.S.
Air Force Verdict
CBC News Online
July 6, 2004
On July 6, 2004
Lt. Gen. Bruce Carlson, 8th Air Force Commander, found U.S. Air Force
Major Harry Schmidt guilty of dereliction of duty for his role in the
April 17, 2002 Tarnak Farms fratricide bombing incident which resulted
in the deaths of four Canadian soldiers and the serious injury of eight
others.
TEXT OF DECISION
Approved Punishment--Schmidt
Art 15 Forfeiture of $2,836.00 pay per month for 2 months. Reprimand.
You are hereby reprimanded.
You flagrantly disregarded a direct order from the controlling agency,
exercised a total lack of basic flight discipline over your aircraft,
and blatantly ignored the applicable rules of engagement and special
instructions. Your willful misconduct directly caused the most egregious
consequences imaginable, the deaths of four coalition soldiers and injury
to eight others. The victims of your callous misbehavior were from one
of our staunch allies in Operation ENDURING FREEDOM and were your comrades-in-arms.
You acted shamefully
on 17 April 2002 over Tarnak Farms, Afghanistan, exhibiting arrogance
and a lack of flight discipline. When your flight lead warned you to
"make sure it's not friendlies" and the Airborne Warning and Control
System aircraft controller directed you to "stand by" and later to "hold
fire," you should have marked the location with your targeting pod.
Thereafter, if you believed, as you stated, you and your leader were
threatened, you should have taken a series of evasive actions and remained
at a safe distance to await further instructions from AWACS. Instead,
you closed on the target and blatantly disobeyed the direction to "hold
fire." Your failure to follow that order is inexcusable. I do not believe
you acted in defense of Major Umbach or yourself. Your actions indicate
that you used your self-defense declaration as a pretext to strike a
target, which you rashly decided was an enemy firing position, and about
which you had exhausted your patience in waiting for clearance from
the Combined Air Operations Center to engage. You used the inherent
right of self-defense as an excuse to wage your own war.
In your personal
presentation before me on 1 July 2004, I was astounded that you portrayed
yourself as a victim of the disciplinary process without expressing
heartfelt remorse over the deaths and injuries you caused to the members
of the Canadian Forces. In fact, you were obviously angry that the United
States Air Force had dared to question your actions during the 17 April
2002 tragedy. Far from providing any defense for your actions, the written
materials you presented to me at the hearing only served to illustrate
the degree to which you lacked flight discipline as a wingman of COFFEE
Flight on 17 April 2002.
Through your arrogance,
you undermined one of the most sophisticated weapons systems in the
world, consisting of the Combined Air Operations Center, the Airborne
Warning and Control System, and highly disciplined pilots, all of whom
must work together in an integrated fashion to achieve combat goals.
The United States Air Force is a major contributor to military victories
over our Nation's enemies because our pilots possess superior flight
discipline. However, your actions on the night of 17 April 2002 demonstrate
an astonishing lack of flight discipline. You were blessed with an aptitude
for aviation, your nation provided you the best aviation training on
the planet, and you acquired combat expertise in previous armed conflicts.
However, by your gross poor judgment, you ignored your training and
your duty to exercise flight discipline, and the result was tragic.
I have no faith in your abilities to perform in a combat environment.
I am concerned about
more than your poor airmanship; I am also greatly concerned about your
officership and judgment. Our Air Force core values stress "integrity
first." Following the engagement in question, you lied about the reasons
why you engaged the target after you were directed to hold fire and
then you sought to blame others. You had the right to remain silent,
but not the right to lie. In short, the final casualty of the engagement
over Kandahar on 17 April 2002 was your integrity.
U.S.
'friendly fire' pilot won't face court martial
July 6th 2004
NEW ORLEANS - The
U.S. pilot who bombed and killed four Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan
struck a deal on Thursday to avoid a court martial.
Maj. Harry Schmidt
will now face a non-judicial hearing by his unit's commanding officer,
in which the worst outcome could be 30 days of house arrest or a loss
of one month's pay of $5,600.
In a court martial,
he could have lost his flying privileges, could have been kicked out
of the military, and could have faced prison. His hearing with his commanding
general is scheduled for Canada Day.
The mother of one
of the Canadian soldiers killed in Afghanistan says she is saddened
by the conclusion of the case. Cpl. Ainsworth Dyer was 25 when he died
in the bombing. His mother Agatha Dyer said on Thursday from her home
in Montreal that her heart is broken, and she believes the pilot involved
in her son's death should pay.
The other three
Canadians who died in the bombing were Sgt. Marc Leger, Pvte. Nathan
Smith and Pvte. Richard Green.
Schmidt was facing
four counts of dereliction of duty for dropping a laser-guided bomb
on Canadian soldiers taking part in night exercises in Afghanistan in
April 2002. Four soldiers were killed; eight were wounded. He accepted
an air force offer to face administrative punishment in exchange for
the dismissal of all charges, according to a U.S. air force statement
on Thursday.
Schmidt's lawyer
said the air force had agreed to allow his client to remain employed
with the Air National Guard, but not as a pilot. He said Schmidt – who
had a decorated career as a Navy pilot and an instructor at the Navy's
"Top Gun" fighter pilot school – did not want to fly for the Air Force
anymore.
Schmidt felt he
had been "second guessed in a combat situation by people sitting back
in the air-conditioned comfort of the Pentagon," the lawyer said. Schmidt
had originally opted for a court martial over a non-judicial hearing,
saying he wanted to clear his name.
The air force in
June 2003 dropped the initial charges of involuntary manslaughter and
aggravated assault – which could have carried sentences of up to 64
years in prison – against Schmidt and his flight leader Maj. William
Umbach.
Umbach thereafter
quietly agreed to accept a reprimand and retire from the air force.
Schmidt and Umbach,
both with the Illinois Air National Guard's 170th Fighter Squadron,
believed the enemy was firing at them when they dropped the bomb on
members of the then Winnipeg-based Princess Patricia's Canadian Light
Infantry.
They were flying
near Kandahar Airport in the early morning hours of April 18, 2002,
when they detected ground fire. They thought it was directed at them
and dropped a 225-kilogram laser-guided bomb, even though they had been
ordered to hold their fire.
The soldiers on
the ground, who were conducting live fire exercises, were the first
Canadians to die in combat since the Korean War.
Written by CBC News
Online staff
U.S.
'friendly fire' pilot found guilty of dereliction of duty
July 6th 2004
NEW ORLEANS - The
U.S. fighter pilot who accidentally dropped a bomb on Canadian soldiers
in Afghanistan two years ago, killing four of them, has been found guilty
of dereliction of duty by the U.S air force. Major Harry Schmidt will
receive a written reprimand and have to forfeit $5,600 US in pay.
In the reprimand,
Lt.-Gen. Bruce Carlson, who handed down the verdict, wrote that Schmidt
"acted shamefully…exhibiting arrogance and a lack of flight discipline."
"The victims of your callous misbehaviour were from one of our staunch
allies in Operation Enduring Freedom and were your comrades-in-arms,"
he wrote.
Marley Leger, whose
husband Sgt. Marc Leger was killed in the 2002 bombing, said the reprimand
was "exactly what I would say. It covered a lot of what I felt, and
what I said over the last year and a half. "I was a little bit surprised,
relieved, just emotional. Having a real emotional day today. It was
more than I was expecting. I feel somewhat at peace with the letter
of reprimand and the acknowledgement by the American government that
this was a blatant mistake and he disregarded an order."
The U.S. air force
announced June 25 that it decided not to court-martial Schmidt on the
dereliction-of-duty charges for the bombing.
Schmidt had originally
opted for a court martial over a non-judicial hearing, saying he wanted
to clear his name.
In a court martial,
he could have lost his flying privileges, been thrown out of the military
and faced up to six months in prison. Instead, Schmidt agreed to an
air force offer to defend his actions at a non-judicial hearing by his
unit's commanding officer.
The air force had
already agreed to allow Schmidt to remain in the Illinois Air National
Guard, but not as a pilot.
Schmidt was one
of two National Guard pilots who dropped bombs during a night-time,
live-fire military exercise near Kandahar on April 18, 2002.
The four soldiers
were the first Canadians killed in combat since the Korean War. Eight
others were wounded. Schmidt maintains he was not briefed on the Canadian
exercise before the flight. He says he was told in the briefing that
the Taliban was active in the area.
A military judge
recommended in March 2003 that Schmidt and Maj. William Umbach, the
other pilot involved in the bombing, not face court martial. Umbach
quietly agreed to accept a reprimand and retire from the air force.
Written by CBC News
Online staff
Archives
of old press releases (2003) HERE
Archives
of old press releases (2002) HERE
