Action Alert: PFC Lavena Johnson “suicide” looks more like murder; help to reopen the case
Categories: African-American, Featured, Justice/Law Enforcement, Millitary, Politics and Elections
Written By: Shawn Williams
Gina McCauley from What About Our Daughters is calling for action in the case of PFC Lavena Johnson. By all accounts PFC Johnson was murdered by her colleagues. Here’s a recap of the story by WAOD & Jezebel:
(Johnson) enlisted in the Army right out of high school in 2003 and was sent to Iraq, where she died. When the Army returned her mutilated body to her grieving parents as a suicide, her dad, Dr. John Johnson, said to himself and the Army coroner, “Somebody murdered my daughter and you picked the wrong person to fuck with.”
- When LaVena’s father finally brought himself to look at his daughter’s corpse in 2005, sent home from Iraq with a report that she’d committed suicide by shooting herself in the left side of her head with an M-16 — which, by the way, is not a handgun but a relatively long rifle, he thought there was something wrong.
- Private LaVena Johnson’s nose was broken, teeth were loose, one eye was concave and there were abrasions over her body. The supposed M-16 hole to the head was far too small for the revolver-sized exit wound, and was on the wrong side of her skull for a right-handed woman to have pulled the trigger. Her genital area showed evidence of acid, perhaps used to destroy DNA evidence. She had white military gloves glued to her burned hands.
- Since then, the Army has continued to insist that the LaVena committed suicide by pointing her rifle with her non-dominant hand at the side of her head and set herself on fire, all after she beat herself up and poured acid on her genitals (since their was no apparent investigation into whatever happened there). Oh, and there was a trail of blood leading away from the tent where her body was found.
For more visit www.lavenajohnson.com
Gina has laid out the first steps that we can take while we wait for the word about this tragic tale to get out. We must first contact our congressional representatives and ask them to petition the Department of Defense. Fill out a Privacy Act Release Form which gives these representatives the authority to act your behalf. They can then ask that the Army reopen this case.
If you live in House District No. 30 like myself and Eddie Bernice Johnson is your Congressperson then you can click here for the Privacy Act Release Form to send to her office.
For all Texans, click here to get the form for Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchision, and here for Sen. John Cornyn.
I have already faxed my inquiry to Congresswoman Johnson and plan to contact the Senators tomorrow. I suggest all of you do the same for your representatives. For those who cry foul on the media for the lack of coverage of African-American women who have gone missing or are victims of abuse, here is a chance to make a difference.
I will follow up when I have have something but by all means comment on this post if you hear back before I do.
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Thanks for getting the word out on this story. I hadn’t heard anything about it.
July 30th, 2008 at 9:40 am
My prayers are with this family. I live in Tennessee and this is the first I heard about it. My daughter sent me an email.
I am prior service and I know how mean, lowdown, and dirty the government can be. This is an outrage…do they think this family has stupid written on their mailbox… to come and tell them that it was sucide.
Not trying to play the race card here but…if it had been a White woman, there would be no question about finding out who did it.
I will pray that God will flush out the slimes who did this and bring down those that are covering it up.
To this family…I’m praying for you.
July 30th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Johnson Family-
I stand behind you 1000%!!! I have a similar situation with my son who was a Federal Customs Officer with the Department of Homeland Security. My son was a awesome & wonderful human being who was supposed to be at work on 7-2-07 but was found dead in his home decomposing and full of maggots!! on 7-12-07. I had the exact same reaction when I was told my son bent over his personal firearm and shot himself in the chest. The bullet traveled downward and came out of his lower back somwhere close to his lung. The bullet was found the next day in a place that defies logic. My son had a discrimination complaint agains Michael Chertoff and the Department of Homeland Security. He was also ill and had been off work on Leave until he was cleared to go back to work. When he didn’t report to work on 7-2…why did CBP not look for him. Here is a Federal Customs Agent dressed in his unifrom dead on the floor with not only a hole in his chest but one in his head!! I don’t know what happened to my child…and I rpobably never will…but guess what…I refuse to stop asking. I have written all my local and state authorities..but I have yet to get an answer to why his CBP Superiors did not look for him when he did not show up for work. I have paid out as much money as I’m going to for Lawyers…I’m Done…So I am going to push this back on the Goverment…..I want answers…I am also willing to write letters, send faxes, make calls for Levena as an advocate for her if you want. Please reply to my email above or to my son’s myspace page also above. I pray you find the answers you seek Johnson Family….I have relied on my God for strength, patience…God Bless!! Keep your Eye on the Prize!!!
August 2nd, 2008 at 12:08 pm
LaVena Johnson (In Memorial) Where Is The Justice?
Just when you think you’ve heard it all,
Another name is slammed into a brick wall,
LaVena Johnson an Army Private First Class,
Is she the first? Certainly this PFC isn’t the last.
Is it any wonder Osama Bin Laden can’t be found?
With a criminal loose in our camp running around,
Destroying evidence, burning bodies, again & again,
Calling themselves soldiers, claiming they are men.
What a shame when the real enemy is on the same side,
Behind the color of camaraderie these cowards hide,
Punched in the face, loose teeth, she was only 5 feet 1,
The Army claims its suicide, that’s all, over and done.
How many before shooting themselves bust their own lip,
Severe enough to the point it needs more than one stitch,
Surprisingly they didn’t say she tried to saw herself in half,
Which lie would be easier to swallow? You do the math.
So, how did that chemical burn get on her private parts?
Oh yeah, maybe a tattoo, some kind of new wave art,
Why would someone waste time getting rid of DNA?
Just maybe without detection they’re free to get away.
The U.S. Army actually tried lying, hooray for her dad,
He gave that crap the smell test and oh did it smell bad,
7/19/05 her dead body found in a contractor’s tent, HBR,
Broken nose, black eye, shot in the head and body scars.
Military personnel or civilians aren’t we on the same side?
Who is the American Government protecting, why that lie?
Had to be someone with pull to get her alone, you’d think,
I don’t have to be standing next to skunk to know it stinks.
Where’s Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, the infamous NAACP?
She could not have been more violated, do you not agree?
A 19-year-old honor student should be shown more respect,
But, this is how she’s being treated. Hey! What the heck?
Can’t call it racial because all women are treated the same,
Even academies and bases in the states there is this claim,
We are truly near the end of days soon God will work it out,
Vengeance will certainly be more than a punch in the mouth.
The Uniform Code Of Military Justice aka the U.C.M.J.,
But, where is this promise for LaVena, her assailant got away,
Judging by the condition of her remains, she put up a fight,
Now John and Linda Johnson are paving the road to right.
Funny thing though, seems they have a roadblock in Iraq,
It’s from the U.S. Army, who supposedly has their back,
The saying, “with friends like these who needs enemies?”
Guess the Army thinks first the perpetrator said, “please?”
Here’s a little something to me that is simply down right scary,
The hole in her head was from a pistol, which she did not carry,
Oh yeah, if you think that’s something how does this fact sound?
The fatal bullet that went through her head was never even found.
If there ever was this kind of incompetence in World War II,
Adolph Hitler or his off spring would be telling us what to do,
Oops, I don’t mean us because there’d be no Blacks or Jews,
And only if the Furor liked Mexican food maybe a Hispanic or 2.
Whomever, wherever, whatever, an injustice did occur,
We can’t make it right for others without justice for her,
Hey, White House, the most powerful office in the world,
Do you have the gonads to speak out for this Johnson girl?
A petition was signed that is over twelve thousand strong,
The Army closed the case anyway saying nothing’s wrong,
Nothing like U.S. Intelligence, it’s the reason for the attack,
If they hadn’t been storing WMD’s we wouldn’t be in Iraq.
I saw something on the Internet much sadder than sad,
Her mom distraught, shedding tears, clutching her dad,
Soldiers carrying LaVena’s body almost made me mad,
Draped over her lifeless casket was an American flag.
Apparently the stars and stripes blows in two directions,
There is one for neglect, another for promised protection,
As it laid over her body on that particular sun filled day,
Was it 1 of protection or 1 allowing a killer to get away?
Beware this incident is not about colors, Black or White,
Remember it’s a statement in the arena of wrong vs. right,
I wonder if her recruiter bothered to make LaVena aware,
The same injustice suffered here is also allowed over there.
And here’s a timeless saying, which is entering my mind,
There’s even a movie with the title, “Behind Enemy Lines,”
Now that the light is shining on a lie that 3 years rang true,
Who will step in & accomplish what the enemy refused to do?
For every ranking Army official who signed off on this case,
Nothing less than a court martial is what each 1 should face,
Upon their conviction exactly where should they have to go?
What about life in a cell behind barb wire fences at Gitmo.
Poems By Luke Easter
March 4th, 2009 at 11:03 pm
Oh my gosh!! This is my first time hearing of this story, and it is the saddest story I have ever heard of. To the parents of PFC Johnson, my prayers are with you. Stay strong and whoever did this will face justice.
By reading the article, she did not commit suicide. SHE WAS RAPED, BEATEN AND SHOT. I hope they will find her killer(s).
God bless her soul; it is just not fair for such a beautiful young woman to leave this world like this.
I am crying while typing this. This is just terrible.
AMERICA NEEDS TO BRING JUSTICE AND TREAT EVERYONE EQUALLY…….
September 3rd, 2009 at 7:20 pm
This is something that I cannot even fathom to believe going through!I found this by stumbling upon youtube and I feel so bad. My husband is being deployed to Iraq this month and he is also 19 and he tells me of his shock of this. I pray that whoever did this is brought to JUSTICE!! It is ashame that the smae side is doing that to one another. A friend of mine who’s fiance is in Afghan heard of a man raping by another man! Lord Have Mercy!!!