Does anyone else wonder if they never actually recovered Sergeant La David Johnson's body?

[dansolo]

I am really starting to think that they left him behind, never recovered his body, and his casket is really empty.

My fear is that he got captured, and the Trump administration is covering it up.

[JenniferJuniper]

1. Seems a bit "Stranger Things", no?

[Eliot Rosewater]

2. Or was captured and tortured.

What is clear by now is the Chad travel ban was one of the reasons this happened.

If this happened under a Democrat there would be 5 separate investigations going on now, said democrat would not be able to get anything done in government for the rest of their lives.

And eventually their lives would be in danger and nowhere on the planet would be safe for them to hide.

GOP doesn't believe in the existence of democrats, they see us as the enemy, they want us gone or dead.

[LisaM]

8. That's my thought, too.

I already wondered if he'd been tortured when I heard that his body was a mile from the others, and their wrapping the body and not showing it confirms that (the other troublesome thing would be if animals had gotten to it).

None of the options are good. That poor, poor widow.

[FirstLight]

22. her comments were chilling

it's one thing they won't let her see his face/head...why not his hand?

[Baconator]

31. Why do you think that Chad had anything to do with this specific incident?

AQ is not the same as Boko Haram (which is what Chad cares about)

[Pacifist Patriot]

39. I believe the person is referring to Chad withdrawing military forces.

They did that in response to Trump administration actions taken in late September which made our troops more vulnerable. This isn't claiming Chad carried out the attack.

[Eliot Rosewater]

47. thanks

[Baconator]

60. I understand that...

... but they don't operate anywhere near there.

[Atman]

53. The Chadian forces which had pulled out were nearly 800 miles from the site of the attack.

It's not clear that their pull-out could have had anything to do with the attack. They weren't close enough to have intervened anyway, nor for the local IS to worry about their presence or absence. Yes, Chad pulled out it's troops, but they two actions don't necessarily have anything to do with one and other.

[Baconator]

61. I know... I'm trying to draw it out of folks...

... so they stop repeating this and making themselves look like fools to anyone who knows.

[Initech]

33. The republicans are drunk with power.

We have to start fighting back against these criminals. They had so many investigations into Benghazi. We need investigations into what happened in Niger.

[adigal]

70. Yes, I think he was captured alive and tortured, and they don't want that out

They will try to hide this forever.

[Baconator]

75. They have cell phone video in Africa too...

Not likely...

[gratuitous]

3. I'm starting to feel like Bane in the last Batman movie

"If he's dead, show me the body."

[Iggo]

4. Huh?

[leftynyc]

82. Mrs. Johnson has said

that they wouldn't even let her see his hand - they met when she was just 6 years old and she says she knows every inch of her husband's body. It is strange they wouldn't let her see any part of him.

[GoCubsGo]

5. That never occurred to me, but

at this point, there is nothing about this situation that would surprise me any more.

[a kennedy]

6. Why would't they let her see his body......that's what I want to know.

[Ilsa]

18. Because the condition of the body could be

So poor, that he is unrecognizable. His body could have been bloated, or destroyed from torture, wild animals, etc. Decay can begin immediately, and loosened sphincters mean urine and feces and more bacteria speed up decay.

And even if he is recognizable to her, it is possible that the condition of the body could give her PTSD. Some people get traumatized just sitting with an elderly parent dying of natural causes, much less viewing a body that went undiscovered for several days, probably obviously decomposing.

A better thing to do would be to give her the option of them retrieving his wedding ring so she could keep it.

[mahannah]

23. Good idea re the wedding ring.

[defacto7]

62. Those are proper points, but....

It's her call. She should also have the option of having someone she knows see and possibly identify something of the remains. Just a clear no is always suspect in my mind.

[a kennedy]

72. Exactly.........

I think he might not even have been returned to the US. JMHO

[Orrex]

24. I know someone who committed suicide by shooting herself in the head

The police, coroner and mortician did not allow the family to see the body. They could probably have filed suit for the right to see their daughter's/sister's corpse with the gaping, jagged, bloody hole where her face had been, but who's to say whether that suit would have been successful?

I would imagine that the corpse of a person murdered through torture and thoroughly mutilated before and/or after death would be rather less pleasant to behold than a civilian suicide.

Even if she were allowed to see the body, a not small population of the internet would certainly and immediately declare that she'd seen a fake, and that her husband is still alive in Chad or elsewhere.

[HipChick]

7. This does seem strange....not even a DNA test...Is autopsy even done

in these circumstances?

[unblock]

9. I don't think even they would go that far.

File that under one of the very few things his base might actually find unforgivable.

Now, would they lie about the circumstances of his death? Absolutely. To hide that he was tortured or partially eaten by animals before his body was recovered? Sure.

But to pass off an empty casket as carrying his remains? I don't think they'd dare. And why? What's the upside vs. just lying about everything like they always do?

[Iggo]

11. Yep. It's easier to just lie.

[sarge43]

27. Yeah, I would think Mrs Johnson would be well within her rights

to obtain a court order for a DNA test.

[brooklynite]

10. Unsupported conspiracy theory

[FSogol]

12. ALCOA! Please look up the difference between MIA and KIA.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

50. Alcoa? I know about the aluminum company, but this must be a 'net acronym. NT

[FSogol]

54. They're the makers of excellent tin foil, necessary for the construction of tin foil hats!

The favored device of nutjob conspiracy theorists everywhere.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

59. Oh, I see. I thought this was another one of those things that all the kids knew, like

LOL and SMH. It is Alcoa.

Thanks.

[Nitram]

13. What would make you think any of this? Trump has drawn more attention to him, not less.

I guess anybody can make up a conspiracy theory just by using their imagination. Like, "dansolo is a Russian provocateur trying to destabilize the US with conspiracy theories that undermine the US government."

[Achilleaze]

14. Left Behind (republican coverup edition)

[Sunsky]

15. I am puzzled

I don't know law or military protocols. Please educate me. Can anyone stop the next of kin from viewing the deceased body, regardless of condition?

[LeftInTX]

52. If the body is released to a funeral home...which occurs in most cases: No

Soldiers killed in action are prepared (embalmed or other religious preference) by the military. They are dressed in their military dress. Every effort is made to make them viewable. This is provided at no expense. Technically at this point a body is ready for burial. The only service that would be needed is transportation to the graveside.

The casket can also be sent to and opened at a funeral home.

Most families of KIA choose to have a funeral home handle the arrangements. Catholics require the body be present at the requiem Mass, which pretty much requires the services of a funeral home. They usually have rosaries the night before the funeral.

I read an article about this earlier today. In one case the mom chose not to view the body of her son KIA, while the father chose to view the body.

[Sunsky]

68. Thanks for

your explanation. It just seemed so odd to me. My heart is breaking for this family. This is where doubt and conspiracy theories creep in. She needs closure which she obviously doesn't have at the moment.

[LeftInTX]

64. Addition to post above:

His body was taken to a funeral home because it was taken to the church.

I feel like we're splitting hairs over this.

The poor woman. His body was in bad shape and the funeral home strongly didn't recommend her viewing it. There is a whirlwind of things going on and it didn't occur to her that she could challenge them. I think she was just too grief struck.


Sure she could have pursued it, but in a situation like this how many people do?

Viewing a body is often part of the closure process. In some cases, they don't recommend it and many people are heartbroken over it.

[Sunsky]

69. I fear that

closure will be hard to come by because of the circumstances surrounding his death. She's now questioning if there was even a body in that casket. I hope she has a strong support system.

[njhoneybadger]

16. Great question

It just seems like there is a cover-up going on

[niyad]

17. Myeshia is wondering the same thing. She is, rightfully, upset that she was not allowed to

view the body, and says, "it may be an empty box." apparently she was told that she really did not want to see her husband's body.


hmmmmmm.

[itcfish]

21. Maybe She Should

Not have seen the body. But a doctor or a pathologist could have reassured her that it was indeed her husband.

[sandensea]

19. It's quite possible. Bush used to do that quite often, so they say.

[7962]

38. So you're saying that "they" say Bush used to send back empty coffins quite often?

Well, whoever "they" are, I can't go along on that one.
The Taliban/Iraqis/etc, would have loved to show off a body. They did it any time they had one.
No different than those who say Bin Laden was never really killed. He would have popped up in a video by now to show Press Obama & the govt as liars

[sandensea]

44. Yes, well - he thought nothing of sending thousands of Americans to their deaths for profit.

Not to mention a million Iraqi deaths and the biggest geopolitical disaster in U.S. history. All those strawmen of yours won't change that.

I wouldn't put anything past him, and neither should you.

[mythology]

48. And neither will making utterly unsupported conspiracy claims

It takes a hell of a lack of self-awareness to try to chide somebody for a so-called strawman, while inventing a claim without evidence.

[7962]

58. Thank you.

Sometimes its like reading Infowars while Pres Obama was still in office. He was and still is accused of hiding/faking EVERYTHING

[SunSeeker]

20. That is a reasonable question. Why couldn't the family view the body?

She has a right, as do his parents, to confirm it was La David.

She said she knew "every inch" of his body and could not understand why she could not even see a hand or a finger to know if it was his body. Just like her, I could identify my husband's body by just one of his fingers, his ear, a tattoo. I would not need to see his face. So this crap about she was denied because his body was too disfigured is bullshit. 

I find it unfathomable that she was denied this right. I would demand an independent autopsy be performed, at which point a DNA test would be done to confirm it was her husband. This body was found over a mile from the site of the firefight that killed the other three. There is indeed a possibility this is not even his body. And, as she points out, there is a possibility there is no body in that casket. 

CNN just interviewed a military casualty officer whose job it was to notify families of deaths, and he could not think of any reason why she would be denied this right. I think this is scandalous.

[FirstLight]

25. thanks for the detail

I am really just aghast at this whole debaucle...he's doubling down on he said/she said BULLSHIT when the military and diplomatic angles just hang out there in the wind.
But that's how he operates...petty all the way, no real governance.

god are we all screwed

[rainin]

26. Does anyone know if this is a normal practice? n/t

[Achilleaze]

30. Normal to be an draft-dodging asshole bullying a grieving widow?

No. Only in republican land would that shit be acceptable. For Americans and all other decent people around the world, it is freaking deplorable.

[rainin]

34. Is it normal to deny a viewing to a spouse? n/t

[SunSeeker]

40. It is definitely NOT normal practice to deny family viewing.

CNN this morning interviewed a military bereavement officer whose job it was to notify families of deaths, and he could not think of any reason why she would be denied this right. I think this is scandalous.

[rainin]

49. Then I hope she gets a lawyer! n/t

[Iliyah]

28. I talked with my father-in-law who is a Vietnam Vet

and he said if the parents and or wife want to review the body it's their right.

[haele]

29. Not if they recovered his body two or three days after.

And it was badly damaged - not only from the fatal wounds, but from natural decomposition in the heat and the local animals and bugs. Even if the attackers basically left his body alone after he fell, the damage could be horrific - not to mention the smell.
Dead human bodies that are not quickly recovered and treated by some sort of mortuary staff are an experience that can never be forgotten.


Haele

[Ilsa]

37. Thank you for writing that up.

I've been trying to explain decomposition, bacteria, putrescence, just under normal circumstances. Then you have bugs, animals, and humans involved. I think trying to create a conspiracy about his remains causes more pain in the long run, prolongs denial.

The emphasis should be on what happened, why, and why it took so long to retrieve his remains.

[Doremus]

45. Very easy to have a private DNA test done to assure the widow. They owe it to her at a minimum. nt

[SunSeeker]

46. What is causing her pain is not knowing if that is even her husband's body.

That is not a conspiracy theory. That is a fact. She does not know if that is his body.

I agree we need to find out what happened. Part of doing that is letting the widow see the body. That would at least confirm a body was recovered.

She said she knew "every inch" of his body and would know if it was his body. Just like her, I could identify my husband's body by just one of his fingers, his ear, a tattoo. I would not need to see his face. So saying she should be denied viewing because his body was too disfigured from decomposing for two days makes no sense. Two days is not long enough to obliterate all identifying features. And to suggest it is being done to protect her feelings is horribly patronizing.

It is unfathomable that she was denied this right. I would demand that an independent autopsy be performed, at which point a DNA test would be done to confirm it was her husband. This body was found over a mile from the site of the firefight that killed the other three. There is a possibility this is not even his body. And, as she points out, there is a possibility there is no body in that casket. 

CNN just interviewed a military bereavement officer whose job it was to notify families of deaths, and he could not think of any reason why she would be denied this right. I think this is scandalous.

[SunSeeker]

43. How is decomposition grounds for denying family their right to view the body?

I find it unfathomable that she was denied this right. I would demand an independent autopsy be performed, at which point a DNA test would be done to confirm it was her husband. This body was found over a mile from the site of the firefight that killed the other three. There is a possibility this is not even his body. And, as she points out, there is a possibility there is no body in that casket. 

CNN just interviewed a military bereavement officer whose job it was to notify families of deaths, and he could not think of any reason why she would be denied this right. I think this is scandalous.

[stopbush]

32. The Rs will be busy constructing a narrative that Obama/the Dems are responsible for the death.

Once that is done, they will release all the gory details to further impugne the Ds.

They key is to somehow blame it on Hillary.

[Initech]

36. The republicans will somehow blame the democrats for being in Niger in the first place.

[Timmygoat]

35. There must be

Some kind of Death Certificate' that lists the actual condition of the body, cause of death and approx length of time since he died.
They seem to have all of this info on crime victims plus photos, I cannot think the military does not have this info in the records, which the widow has a right to see.

[Phentex]

42. I have no idea how this works

but I agree with you. It seems like there should be all kinds of identifying information and she should be able to get those records.

[hamsterjill]

41. I know I don't trust anyone in that Administration.

Who knows what happened at this point. It's so sad.

The whole thing has been just horrific. That poor widow. Seeing her simple breaks one's heart, and I can only imagine how much more painful it might be for her with lingering questions as to what actually happened to her husband.

[mgardener]

51. We should be demanding answers as to why those men died

Why are Republicans getting away with this?

[onecaliberal]

55. They wont let his wife see him. Not even a finger.

[SweetieD]

56. With this administration anything is possible. And the military has done this before.

[Irish_Dem]

57. If they had not found his remains they would be looking for him.

And I am about as cynical as you can get.
And know we are lied to most of the time.

But I think if they had not found him dead, they keep looking. If for no other reason, to determine if we were dealing with a hostage situation.

[Wwcd]

67. Thay's why the private contractor was called in perhaps.

I've heard several sources report the body went directlynto Dover, when it should have gone through Ramstein Germany.

These are the 2 things that cause suspicion.

This is a pathetic situation no matter what the truth reveals.

[Irish_Dem]

83. Wasn't the body found some distance from the ambush site?

Was he captured, then killed?

[defacto7]

63. Anytime something is declined without option

it is suspect. There are alternatives like having someone else besides the government try to identify or at least asses the remains for positive proof and discuss it with her.
Slam the door and I suspect something is not right.

[bluestarone]

65. it's her right to make the choice

and if it were me i would be seeking court order no doubt about it! Her husband fought and died for this right! this has a smell about it. She will always wonder, and i would not want anybodies wife to continue life under those conditions. Again i say IT'S HER CHOICE!

[Wwcd]

66. I have thought this also as the info seems hidden.

Private contractor sent in, flew his body (so they tell us) directly to Dover.
The normal procedure in foreign affairs like this is to always retreive & take the bodies to Ramstein , Germany.

This is so suspicious that I believe the retrieval of his body never took place.
If they revealed the truth, it would also reveal that the entire OP was a private deal.

Trump will offer Zero Transparency from the reason these solders were sent there to why a private contractor was called in to retrieve. (cover up).

[librechik]

71. me and hubby want the proof--military have too much to hide

and the opportunity to do it.

[TomSlick]

73. Let's look for a simple explanation.

It seems likely, the body was in poor condition. The Army mortuary affairs specialists would note on the paperwork the body was not suitable for viewing. The widow would have been assigned a survivor assistance officer who would naturally become very protective of her. The SAO had no right to refuse the widow seeing the body but it is easy to understand a SAO making that mistake.

Remember Hanlon's Razor: Do not attribute to malice anything that can be adequately explained by simple incompetence.

Besides which, if there was no body in the casket, somebody would have told by now. That kind of secret would not last through the night. Trump may not care about such things but Army people take the handling of remains from battle deaths very seriously.

[Stinky The Clown]

74. A reasonable question

[populistdriven]

76. I would show up with one of these

or better yet this

[mountain grammy]

77. It's chilling and sad beyond belief.

this young woman and children left with no answers. I'm disgusting with the whold process.

[Hoyt]

78. No. I think there are plausible reasons his body wasn't shown.

Now, why we have soldiers everywhere and why young men join up for this junk (when they have a choice) are my questions?

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

79. Yes, think about that a lot... I wouldn't put ANYTHING past this corrupt administration.

[lindysalsagal]

80. I don't trust the military, and neither should she. I'd want to see him, too.

Just to know he's finally home. Yup. I'd insist on seeing the body.

[Orrex]

81. Right now I'm sure that he's being transformed into a powerful cyborg

Next they'll send him back to 2001 to plant tactical implosion nukes in WTC7, and then they'll send him back to The Grassy Knoll.