This is the Home of the Brave

non-combat-death.org

 This will describe what has transpired since 1992 to change the way military investigates non-combat deaths.  If/as other information becomes available to HOTB this history will be updated.

The next researcher will have the advantage of this information and he/she will be able to learn enough, hopefully, from this research to better frame the next round with Congress - such that - the Military will have less space in which to find excuses, like investigator incompetence.

Thus far, only 5 individual cases have been presented before Congress (on July 12, 1996) and there was no penalty or punishment to any person or Military Organization for the findings of investigative incompetence. The military used two excuses for improper investigations:

1) untrained investigators – and

2) death outside a military installation is not under military jurisdiction.

These KEY issues will be noted:

1. How the Military provoked relatives into actions that took their issues all the way to Congress and how dedication and determination worked in ways they could not envision during that terrible time in their lives.
2. The changes these people brought about and how those changes got to be part of Congressional mandates. The changes were secondary. The relatives’ primary needs were to have their loved one's cause of death changed from suicide to murder (which never happened, but was the motivation behind all their actions.)
3. Legislation of 1185, 2187 and 5505.10, enacted by Congress, was made possible by those brave, grieving people who spent all their heartache, time, energy and money to get at the truth. This legislation is now a standard by which to measure non-combat death investigations. 
4. Except for Editor Notes and others’ personal testimonies, all the information here is documented. 

All the following data came from a group called, Until We Have Answers (UWHA). If not for them and their loved ones it would not exist! Though they were not successful in getting loved ones' causes of death changed, they are to be thanked for these Acts of Congress - 1185, 2187 and 5505.10 - being on the books. At the time, they did not know how powerful they were. They and the deaths of their loved ones are now a part of history! I can think of no greater monument to their loved ones. Their grief was/is long- and far- reaching!

The Beginning

U.S. News & World Report published on November 9, 1992, a special report titled, "Navy Justice: The Inside Story Of The Navy’s Scandal-Ridden Police Force – And The Urgent Need For Reform", by Peter Cary. It opens with the story of Catherine Jakovic, about her son Marine Lance Cpl. Scott Jakovic, who died of a gunshot wound to the head, and continued with other stories about 'Navy Justice'. Catherine never got a straight answer from the Navy about the cause of death.

This story was the impetus for a group of people that were named ‘Until We Have Answers’ by Robyn Hall (son, Michael J. Leslie). After the story aired Peter Cary got calls from others who had military 'cause of death' issues, especially about suicides, and he put all these people in touch with each other. The original group dissolved much later with the members going their various ways. Some gave up the fight and some went on to pursue justice either on their own or in other ways.

May 15 - 20, 2005: Arlene Ball wrote:

‘Peter Cary did a story on Robyn Hall, Kathy Kubicina and Kathy Jakovic. I believe eight other families contacted him and we organized under the title Until We Have Answers. Then we picked up three more families. There were fourteen of us who met at DC; I think it was in '93, for the original meetings -- not hearings -- with the Senate Armed Forces subcommittee on personnel, which was the catalyst for 1185. The original group was under 15 in January 1993.  In 1994 we met for a candlelight vigil at the Lincoln Memorial, and we had meetings, NOT hearings, with the senate armed forces subcommittee on personnel, which resulted in 1185.

Robyn Hall chose the name ‘Until We Have Answers’. Our original group was formed quite quickly. We mobilized within weeks and we began a letter writing campaign. We had members of our families and friends join us as we wrote to specific list of media and government contacts, addressing each one at a specific date, so they would hear from us all at once. We were able to attract much media attention, which then got us the attention of our state representatives and senators, and with the help of the aides of Representatives Pallone (New Jersey) and Levy (New York), were able to set up a meeting with the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel in May 1993. Just prior to this, ABC news program 20/20 did a story on three of the children of group members: Kirk Vanderbur, Scott Jakovic and Michael Leslie.

We all had friends and relatives write to the talk shows each week in an organized appeal. Robin supplied lists of shows with addresses and dates. Robin Hall and Arlene Ball worked to get all organized and we worked with Cathy Jakovic's congressman (Pallone, NJ) and JoAnne MacCaskill's (Levy, NY) when we met for congressional hearings in May 1993. Lisa (Pallone) and Kelly (Levy) took over. Last membership list that I had was over 100.

We added people simply through attraction, not promotion at all. As people contacted each of us, we added them. We didn't leave anybody out, although many situations did not apply to our initial concerns involving deaths ruled self-inflicted. As a group, we've worked long and hard, with little result. Many of us have chosen to go on with our lives and try to accept what we cannot change; others are still actively pursuing their cases. However, we remain united in our goal of educating the public and supporting those parents who have yet to endure this agony.

Because of all the local and national publicity we'd received, our hopes were very high for substantive reform and answers in our individual cases when we met in Washington. However, despite all our work, and subsequent legislation and numerous re-investigations by the DOD, we have yet to see a single, reinvestigated case reversed. The investigative agencies have made some changes in the rules for investigating self-inflicted deaths, but we are still seeing cases where these rules are not applied; further, we do not feel the changes were substantive enough to enforce real change.

There were two things that I recall happening, one is after our meeting in 1993, a law was passed calling for re-investigation of specific cases. That was limited to some cases, and I believe, limited to a period of time. It was unfunded, but they came up with the money and re-investigated the cases. Section 1185 is essentially defunct. It was, at first, anyway, an unfunded mandate. The death had to have occurred between 1982 and 1994, exact dates in the paperwork, and I believe there was a deadline for filing for re-investigation.

I wasn't at the hearings, although I submitted testimony, which is part of the official record. Everything that was done - was done at enormous costs, by phone and snail mail, not to mention airfare, hotels and meals and TIME.

Dodge, Linda, and that whole crew came later. Robyn, Kathy, Lois and I did most of the work, contacting and organizing, but we did not dictate to anyone, nor did we judge. As things progressed, the four of us got tired, and just let others take over, to our detriment. We didn't look for anybody - they came to us. It just worked out that way. So many, so many!’

May 27, 2005 Kathy Kubicino (Brother, Clayton Michael Hartwig.) wrote:

" Once I start my story, you will remember.... April 19th, 1989, Turret II of the USS IOWA BB-61 exploded and immediately killed 47 sailors...Clayton Michael Hartwig was my brother. The Navy tried to pin the accident on him for lack of another reason. They spent three years trying to blame him at the cost of 44 million dollars. I fought back with my little $50,000 savings account and the help of every newsperson in the United States, London, Spain and Canada. I spent three years of my life doing NOTHING but fighting every little allegation that the Navy would throw at me!! I got my apology on October 19, 1991!
Kathy"

Space conservation dictates that the samples (not told here in entirety) of the personal stories below will have to represent hundreds, if not thousands, of botched investigations by all of the military organizations. (Military organizations are, Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps.) There were no minor stories! Note that every relative that disputed the death of their loved one went to great lengths, sacrifice and expense to prove material differences from the military investigations. They had to hire forensic experts, doctors, attorneys, pay airfare, hotels and restaurants, etc., to prove the deficiencies before they could get a reinvestigation. Though some were able to prove material deficiencies, there were no penalties for the incompetence of investigators.

July 26, 1993, The Courier Journal (Louisville, KY.) Byline: Nikita Stewart.
This news article said that the problems were that the military lied to relatives, mishandled evidence, performed inconclusive autopsies and changed witnesses’ statements. The group members didn’t believe the military findings that their children committed suicide. They knew there was a controversy about the handling of the Navy’s Tailhook sex scandal and the 1989 (see Kathy Kubicino above) USS Iowa explosion. There was also the allegation that the Navy covered up the 1992 beating death of a gay sailor in Japan.

The relatives said that most of the servicemen who were said to have committed suicide had talked about seeing or hearing drug deals, arms deals, thefts or wrongful acts on bases and aboard ships. Some of these relatives traveled to Washington, D.C. in May of 1993 to try to get the government to listen and reopen investigations of their loved one’s deaths. They talked to the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the House Committee on Armed Services.

1. Robyn Hall knows her son is dead and buried in Cave Hill Cemetery but she doesn’t know how he died.

   Military officials at the U.S. Naval Station in Guam pronounced Michael Leslie, Jr’s death a suicide after they found him on September 19, 1991, slumped over the steering wheel of a security truck with a .45 caliber pistol in his lap and a bullet hole from his chin through his head.

   Mrs. Hall, a 46-year-old Jefferson County housing specialist who lives in Shively, is asking questions. “If Leslie shot himself, why was there no powder residue from the gun on his hands? Why did he have a bruise on the right side of his head? Why was his left hand cuffed to the steering wheel? What sort of investigation neglects to test the gun for fingerprints?”

    

2. Jack and JoAnne MacCaskill’s son John supposedly shot himself through the mouth with a .357 Magnum, one of the most powerful handguns. The bullet exits the chamber at 1,300 feet per second, and what’s left behind is not a pretty site - yet there was no exit wound. The Military said it lodged 3 inches within the soft tissue. Though this happened in a bar, there were no witnesses to say this did or didn’t happen or even that someone saw it.

   “We were told he was in critical but stable condition and we were allowed to get down in country the following day.” The MacCaskill’s saw their son and Jack noted the milk white in his eyes. His eyeballs had already started to shrivel up. He was ice cold. The only trauma to his face was from a tracheotomy and an incision on the right side of his neck that they claimed was to tie off the carotid artery.

   “They told us that if we wanted to view him in the States that he would have to be embalmed according to Salvadorian custom. So, we agreed. The small index card we had to sign was in Spanish and we had it translated. Jack signed the card and John was embalmed. The funeral director at home had to change the face makeup and he only opened his collar on his dress uniform and removed a couple of stitches that John had in his neck. We buried John on June 1, 1993. After a couple hours sleep, the questions just compiled, one on top of another. We had been traumatized by this ordeal and were not thinking logically at the time.

   We had the body exhumed on June 14 and on the 15th John was autopsied. His whole body had been gutted. It’s a very crude word but it is the only word to describe what they did to him. Without our knowledge, without our consent, they cut John open from the neck straight down and removed every organ in his body.”

    

3. Kirk Charles Vanderbur was found dead February 17, 1992 at a private gun range in Hubert, NC. Kirk’s parents were told that Kirk blasted himself in the chest with birdshot, and then crawled 8 ½ to 10 feet to shoot himself in the head right between the eyes with a rifle. As they loaded him into the ambulance they noticed the abdominal wound and pulled up his sweatshirt, which pulled his internal organs out. Two days later, without even testing Vanderbur’s hands for gunshot residue, Sheriff Ed Brown decided the death was a suicide and the NCIS agreed. Lois said “I stood where he died a month later and the ground was still stained with his blood.”

   Lois Vanderbur said “I think the sheriff botched the investigation, didn’t do a homicide investigation and I don’t think the Marine Corps cared”.

   Gene Vanderbur wrote: “my son was murdered. I concluded this after a long search for information dealing with a conspiracy of combinations of silence, endless and continuous obfuscation by people in authority, denial of access to evidence, data and photographs, obvious lying, neglect in performance of minimum reasonable investigation, misdirection, shameless displays of arrogance, ignorance and/or more malfeasant actions.”

   Almost a year after the meetings, each of the relatives disputing the cause of death of their loved ones received the following report: (Transcribed from a document.)

Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Report of Investigation: Case No. 103-89-3 March 1993. House Armed Services Committee Embargo Not for Public Release Until Monday AM Newspapers March 14, 1994.

This is a summary of what the staff learned after 1) interviewing the families May 13 and 14, 1993. 2) Reviewing the Navy and Marine Corps case files at NIS headquarters in Washington and 3) gathering elements of other information from interviews and discussions. 8 cases were reviewed. Conclusory Note: The staff notes that, since its investigation began, more than 70 families have come forward questioning the death determinations involving their loved ones in uniform. In these circumstances, Congress enacted legislation that attempts to address some of the families concerns. The provision, incorporated in section 1185 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1994 (Public Law 103-160), directs the Secretary of Defense to review the military departments procedures for investigating the deaths of service members that may have resulted from self-inflicted causes. The Secretary is also directed to prescribe regulations governing these types of investigations. Finally, the provision directs the Department of Defense Inspector General to review any suicide investigation conducted by the MCIOs since 1982 where a family requests a reinvestigation and describes specific evidence of a material deficiency in the first investigation.”

UWHA succeeded in getting a hearing in 1996 only to have the issues (of improper investigations, no investigations, homicides labeled suicide without investigation - when evidence clearly showed it was murder, improper autopsies or no autopsies at all and of outright lies told by the military) distorted and excused by blaming it on the investigators. The problem of homicide within the Military was never addressed and the Hearing began to be referred to by some - as a ‘Suicide Prevention Workshop’. Congress entirely missed the point that there were statistically too many "suicides". As researched and presented to Congress by members of UWHA, there were nearly twice as many suicides in the military as in the general population of the U.S.

This Hearing turned out to have been misinterpreted by the military. The Government focus of the hearing was that there needed to be better suicide prevention programs in the U.S. Military. They ignored that the relatives wanted an investigation into what they considered staged suicides.

There were two Internet sites developed by people who had been members of UWHA. Dodge Thompson's site “Military Investigations of Suicide, ‘The Accountability Project”, MISTAP (son, David Alan Thompson) Click here, was developed in 1997 and is no longer active.

Thanks to the creator of the texoma.net site for leaving his gold mine of information in a different place on the net. We found it quite by accident. We think these pages were intended for use on his texoma site. For some unknown reason, the pages were not used and the site has been left unattended. It’s as though he was in mid-sentence and didn’t finish it, sadly. This site is well worth the time spent to read about loved ones’ stories and other information.

Chairman, Senator Kempthorne's opening statement, September 12, 1996.

Testimony by Senator Rod Grams on September 12, 1996

Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. statement submitted on September 12, 1996.

Statement by Christopher Rush, retired New York City Police Officer, on September 12, 1996.

Statement by Cassandra Alleyne (son, Paul R. Mamby) September 12, 1996.

Charles Casto Testimony on September 12, 1996.

Testimony of Dr. John David Sabow on September 12, 1996, (brother, Col James E. Sabow).

Testimony of Mrs. Linda Shults September 12, 1996 (son, Allen Shults)

Dodge Thompson, Sr. Statement

Dodge Thompson, Jr. Statement (brother, David Alan Thompson). December 5, 1996.

 "The Suicide Files" by David Zucchino, Philadelphia Inquirer

This stash of documentation contained another site that was developed by former UWHA member Patricia Kusila. Click on "Salute" at the top right side to enter. You will find pages dedicated to loved ones, many of whom were military members.

Jan Beimdiek, (son, Scott Michael Beimdiek) developed the following site and this site is still active. Home Of The Brave (HOTB) branched off from MAMMA. We all want the same things, justice and dignity for our loved ones and Military accountability.