Danny Chen Death: U.S. Charges 8 Fellow Soldiers

KABUL, Afghanistan -- The U.S. Army says that eight American soldiers have been charged in connection with the Oct. 3 death of a fellow soldier in southern Afghanistan's Kandahar province.

In a statement Wednesday, it says Pvt. Danny Chen, a 19-year-old from New York, N.Y., was found in a guard tower at Combat Outpost Palace with what the Army described as "an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound."

Chen was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Wainwright, Alaska.

The military said the eight soldiers from Chen's company face charges including dereliction of duty, assault, negligent homicide and involuntary manslaughter. It did not provide further details.

Comments

[Aiden Pouritz]

08:56 PM on 12/22/2011

The Non-commissioned officers (NCOs) charged in Chen's death were between the ages of 25-35. This was not a locker room hazing perpetrated by immature, new recruits. This seems to have been a string of acts that was made possible by negligence or even sanctioned by Chen's immediate superiors, i.e. those responsible for his welfare.
But why target him because of his race? Certainly they had heard of the death of Lance Corp Harry Lew, another Chinese American whose death after being harassed is under investigation. Let's put it this way: those in the military also live in the larger society, which means they soak up the same images and notions that everyone else does. Including the racism. And Asian men have long been portrayed as outsiders, as not truly American. Hollywood traditionally has cast American-born Asians, especially the men, as foreigners and even enemies--rarely as normal guys. Most people don't act on these notions, but these soldiers did, in a particularly crude and aggressive way.
Ironically, Japanese American veterans of the 442nd (the most decorated unit of WWII) often say that they fought so hard because they wanted to prove, beyond a doubt, that they were just as American as their white and black brothers in arms. Evidently, Chen's assailants didn't get the message.

[ebanks84]

01:23 PM on 12/22/2011

There's got to be more to this story than this.

[sixtoes]

12:58 AM on 12/22/2011

Those 8 will be ratting on each other in no time.

[andicia1]

12:45 AM on 12/22/2011

I don't know why my post don't get posted? I don't say anything racist at all. All I said is more information needed to be given and Yahoo gave the extra information on this case. It is more than water not being turned off. The Private experienced more stuff than shower stuff. I said there was more to be found out and that was true. I think more nasty stuff happened to this private than Yahoo is reporting. Again, somebody should have helped this Private. He should not be dead any way you break it down. The Military has steps to use to report abuse. Somebody would have helped this soldier. The Military today is filled with every race that is in the world. Discrimination is not tolerated regardless of what you non soldiers think. Go to Yahoo for more information on this case.

[not2 good]

11:02 PM on 12/21/2011

Aren't these men wearing the same uniform? What is it with the harrasment of a fellow soldier. Must be some kind of a power trip these people are on.

[banker67]

09:03 PM on 12/21/2011

Some say military deaths from suicide are higher than combat deaths. I don't know if that's true, but I've read it a few places.

To me, the idea that suicides in the military might be unusually high is alarming. Why would well-trained American soldiers kill themselves?

Obviously, a small number of suicides might just be emotional problems seen in most modern cultures. But a high number reflects very badly on our generals.

Even allowing for higher numbers due to bullying and proximity to lethal weapons, soldiers preferring to kill themselves rather than the 'enemy' says something very important about the 'enemies' our leaders have commanded our soldiers to kill.

If you sincerely thought you were fighting for something worthwhile, would you kill yourself rather than the 'enemy' of that worthwhile something? Maybe. I doubt it though.

How about when you come to believe that you are not fighting for the good guys? Would that have an energizing effect or a depressing one? You make the call.

[brokenleoheart]

12:01 PM on 12/22/2011

well the real problem is that, his family don't think he killed himself. which means he may very well be hazed and killed by accident, and the military was trying to cover it up until the chinese community got a few councilmen behind them to push the military to start the investigation

[jrwest78]

07:20 PM on 12/21/2011

I stand corrected on an earlier post where I thought 1/25 Stryker was garrisoned at Lewis

[jrwest78]

07:07 PM on 12/21/2011

25th ID is in Hawaii and the First Stryker BCT is in Fort Lewis...

unless things have changed that much since 2006

[jrwest78]

07:41 PM on 12/21/2011

I apologize for getting this wrong....

I stand corrected

[jrwest78]

07:51 PM on 12/21/2011

apologies, 25ID relieved 3rd Brigade at the end of 2004

[Al91206]

04:58 PM on 12/21/2011

An army is a reflection of the society it represents. Though this one act is not representative of our military as a whole, it is reflective of small and vocal (ie tea party, Santorum-Bachmann crowd) minority.

[banker67]

08:05 AM on 12/22/2011

Agree that there is much to be very proud of in our military, specifically 99 out of 100 people who wear the uniform.

It's time to give up our empire though.

You can't expect citizen-soldiers to kill and be killed to increase the profits of big private hedge-funds run by CEOs who manipulate the law so they pay virtually no income tax on the billions they stash in foreign banks. All 'perfectly legal,' you understand.

Simple question: How many children of multimillionaires serve in the military, much less risk their lives on the front lines?

I'm thinking of a number. Can you guess what it is? Hint: one digit.

[MuckyPup]

04:05 PM on 12/21/2011

Isn't this US news, rather than world news?

[aphextwin07]

03:55 PM on 12/21/2011

so where's the actual story?

[offred]

03:31 PM on 12/21/2011

More complete article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/8-us-soldiers-charged-in-death-of-comrade-in-afghanistan/2011/12/21/gIQAXmE38O_story.html

[jazzman001x]

03:27 PM on 12/21/2011

notice how you could only see one hand of each person , whilt the other hand was behind their back with fingers crossed. These poor prople are so brainwashed into thinking their communism is so great......that they don`t even know what they haven`t got!!!!

[brokenleoheart]

12:03 PM on 12/22/2011

what on earth are you talking about.

[Ambivalent Anon]

01:12 AM on 12/26/2011

Hey Newsflash, Taiwan is Chinese but they're not communists. Singapore has Chinese influence in it but it's not a communist country. What are you playing at?

[jazzman001x]

03:02 PM on 12/27/2011

the only reason Taiwan is not communist is because they were just released from British rule..give it time.......they will be overrun with brainwashing....obviously you weren`t around during the cold war.....otherwise you would see it differently.

[cdhj12000]

03:24 PM on 12/21/2011

I'm surprised at how many comments assume that this is a hate crime. If I read the same article I didn't gather any information that implies that at all. Actually, I got quite what I expected: very little information.

[gDogMan]

04:11 PM on 12/21/2011

this article provides much more information

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/8-us-soldiers-charged-in-death-of-comrade-in-afghanistan/2011/12/21/gIQAXmE38O_story.html

thanks to offred for finding and posting this link

[ema123]

04:54 PM on 12/21/2011

How could you read the washington post article and not see this as a hate crime, when the victim repeatedly complained about being harrassed

[cdhj12000]

05:54 PM on 12/21/2011

Just read it. I guess when I think "hate crime" I assume that it has something to do with racism, homophobia, hatred of or by a religion or religious group, misogyny, etc. I suppose any kind of angry, malicious, unkind words and/or actions that could cause harm to a person or persons, directly or indirectly, should be considered a hate crime, or hate offense of some degree. Not a bad idea I suppose. Doesn't sound so good for free speech, because a lot of talk show hosts would be out of business and there probably wouldn't be so many comments on e-news threads like this and others. What is the legal definition of hate crime anyway?

[Dantee]

03:07 PM on 12/21/2011

The US Military isn't 'the best and brightest'! They are a cross-section of the American people; good, bad and ugly. Real people.