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The War Profiteers - War Crimes, Kidnappings,
Torture and Big Money |
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August 17th, 2006 - Pa. Guardsman
Returns From Iraq After Court-Martial |
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Pa. Guardsman Returns From
Iraq After Court-Martial Associated Press Thu, Aug. 17, 2006 Williamsport, Pa. - The last
member of Pennsylvania's 109th Mechanized Infantry arrived home from Iraq on
Wednesday following a court-martial in the death of an Iraqi civilian. Spc. Milton Ortiz Jr. was
charged with conspiring with two other soldiers to plant an AK-47 near a
slain Iraqi civilian to make it appear that he was an insurgent. Ortiz, 36, of Old Lycoming
Township, was reduced in rank to specialist after pleading guilty to
conspiracy to obstruct justice. He also pleaded guilty to pressing an
unloaded gun to a civilian's head on March 8, officials said. Several hundred people
clapped and his wife broke into tears when Ortiz arrived at Williamsport
Regional Airport. He was greeted first by his three children. "It's overwhelming.
It's amazing," Ortiz told The Patriot-News of Harrisburg. Also there to see him was
Spc. Nathan Lynn, Ortiz's fellow Company B member whose return also had been
delayed because of the criminal inquiry. "He deserves a
warrior's welcome," Lynn said. "We've all been waiting for this
day." Lynn, 21, of South
Williamsport, Pa., was cleared of manslaughter and obstruction charges last
month when military authorities concluded that he had reason to believe the
man had a weapon. The rest of the 109th
returned in June. External link:
http://www.thestate.com/mld/mercurynews/news/special_packages/iraq/15298035.htm |