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The War Profiteers - War Crimes,
Kidnappings, Torture and Big Money |
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February 9th,
2007 - Tennessee Hometown Rallies Behind Soldier |
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Tennessee Hometown Rallies Behind
Soldier Charged with Murdering Iraqis By Kristin M. Hall Associated Press February 9, 2007 8:51 PM PST Sweetwater, Tenn. - A 6-foot
banner hanging from a gazebo in the center of this town of 6,000 reads:
"Ray fought for Sweetwater. Now let's fight for Ray." Folks in Sweetwater are
standing by hometown soldier Raymond Girouard, raising more than $18,000 for
his defense against murder charges. The 24-year-old staff
sergeant with the 101st Airborne Division, was one of four soldiers charged
with murdering three Iraqi detainees last year. "Anybody that knows
Raymond knows his character, and this is not Raymond," said his
grandfather, 64-year-old Ron Bentley. The other soldiers have
pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors; Girouard, the squad
leader, is in a military jail in Charleston, S.C., awaiting a court-martial
next month at Fort Campbell. The soldiers initially told
investigators they shot the detainees during a May 9 raid in Samarra because
they were attempting to flee and because commanders had given them orders to
kill all military-age men. But two of the soldiers now say Girouard ordered
them to cut the detainees free and shoot them as they fled. One soldier also
said Girouard cut him to make it look as if there was a struggle. "None of it makes any
sense," said Girouard's sister, Joy Oakes. "My brother has no
motive to go over there and harm all of these people. It's all hearsay." Oakes, 26, has set up an
office, collected and sent to her brother newspaper clippings and letters
from Sweetwater residents, and printed up 500 bumper stickers that read,
"We support our soldier Staff Sgt. Ray Girouard." "The outpouring of
people has just been wonderful," Oakes said. In just two days, the people
of Sweetwater raised $14,000 - most of it from an offering at First Assembly
of God, where Girouard played drums - to hire a civilian attorney. "We're average joes
that work for a living. That's a miracle right there," said Julie
Dennis, a mortgage broker who attends church with Girouard's family Not everyone in town is
backing Girouard. Ron Johnson, who runs Sweetwater Valley Antiques, said he would
not donate because he doesn't know if the charges are true. "I think he's got a lot
of support from people who know him, but the people who didn't know him,
they're not going to want to be involved," Johnson said. At the soldiers' Article 32
hearing - the military equivalent of a civilian preliminary hearing - the
defense argued that a brigade commander Col. Michael Steele had given a
command to "kill all military-aged males." Steele, who led Army
Rangers during the 1993 battle for Mogadishu in Somalia, has denied the
allegations. As to what role the
allegation will play in Girouard's case, his attorney, Anita Gorecki, said:
"I feel there was a miscommunication in his orders, but we'll know more
about that in the coming weeks." Bentley is already looking
forward to his grandson's return to Sweetwater, hopefully to a hero's
welcome. "I consider him my
hero," Bentley said. "I think Sweetwater considers him their hero." External link: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/02/10/military/17_14_522_9_07.txt |