AR 15-6 Investigation: Statement of Army Specialist re: Samarra Bridge Incident

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SWORN STATEMENT.
FOR USE
OF THIS FORM _ 'ORO, so so 100;-4 S rA.00klytt.'*OgNe* OFFICEEPUTY CHIE 'Qv STAFFtou
L.O. C:-.:., AT. I.O N: .. , , . ,. .,.. DATE : T -,!-',':' -.-:' .. ISTIKORt Tikric. Iraq : - . , i.',1;, 0011-(j4-650469-79630-5I711
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I want to make the 0110.110g statement under Oath:,
1:-;*.1:: , 70'064 some a '0: fallacies statemen. t . .
en.*.'e stopped 4 SGT :„. . 1.e- " - • h6-..c h */ -.5-
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.': ..,"., .8e9. got out of the Bradley. )
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104 and I watched the qti's W—hi .0. SGT ,Went to see what was going on
r4adrtb!I II4 a- n
back
1. tcti f1e3Wadbte': a!keeersteleit70u-.7. lid1 l:pfut6i'ntt:i 'Si Fe SGT
- and told ns to bring the p-ty,$ to 40 0,. 0. water refused to.) be apart of its
'ad said over the .44 g`5"; 461c
b4-$; went behind some concrete dArideri. I heard a splash They came back a few
..- '46 i4 tafo i% A s w e w,er e mounting the Brads, I. thought I saw 2 people on the peninsula.
Q' vvhcxiyo4 say EPW'S, what are you referring to'
A Enemy Prisoner of Wat, .
Q What do you mean by curfew beakers'?
A: Iraqi's out after curfew:
Q What time is curfew?
A I aril not sure. :.: •,:::.,:,_., ,,:, , -, , - Q: Can you further identify SFC
A lie is my Platoon Sergeant I believe his first -name is ism b 4.-5, L i -5"- Q: Can you tell the who was on patrol that night from your platOon?
A: My entire platoon.
Q: How many soldiers are hi your platoon?
A About 32, .
Q: How many Bradley's were in the convoy?
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A: At least four.
Q: What time did your patrol detain the EPW 'S?
A: I do not know, I was just told they violated the curfew.
Q: Why were they detained?
A: I was told because of the curfew.
Q: What happened when they were detained?
A Initially they were searched and their vehicle was searched. They were initially detained
because one of then.' showed us what we believed was a fake ID card. Soon after, he presented
us with what we believed to be his correct ID card, so we were told to release them. They got
back into their truck for about a minute, but before we left we were told to detain them again,
cuff them and put them into the Bradley. Then the convoy departs.
Q Why were they detained the second time'?
A Ordered to.
. WhirgiVellieorder?
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AGENCY IS OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF FOIL
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o us, Jam not sure who told him. He had to have been told
Put
ey were removed from the tradley/
FOR USE OF PPSFORM; SEE AR 190-451
PESOkEil,
SW s
Az SSG
by the 14-0.
ltow lar e convoy
A; WA a clue.
Q How long were you in the back while the convoy was moving?
A I am not sure, maybe less than 30 minutes.
When were detained did yOu hear any communication about throwing them into the
river?
A No, only the talk earlier in the night
Q: Why were the detaineei not brought to a detention facility?
A.: I am not sure, it is above.my
Q What is the sOP for your imit pertaining to detainees?
what they were detained lot Some we have released and others we have ,
ie detention facility'
w the 2 men into. the river?
d SF e the two that escorted them to the rivers edge.. I
b1e---5" could not see if either of them thieW them in from my vantage point But I did hear a splash.
Q; Who actually gave the order to throw the EPW'S inttoo thi river?
A I am not sure if that was the actual order given.' The order could have been to release them or
to specifically throw them in the river, I just don't know.
Q: How far were you away from the detainees when they, were pushed intO the river?
A 40 meters maybe
Q How many people t6-51- A: I would say .two,
le-r--"Q: Did
A: SG
A: It depon
transported to
Q: WhO aCtUall -
th 6 A: SOT
dyes spOtYbere they were pushed into the river?
oAn •
Or SaY anything when they returned to your location?
said that they were crawling out
Q: You initially 'put_ into your statement tonight, that you saw two people on the bank when you
were leaving, then addd e "I thought I saw", can you explain?
A Because of my location, the distant* away from the area in question, wearing night vision
goggleg and other factors, I cannot say that I saw two people standing there with 100 % certainty.
Q: Did anyone speak with you or members of yout platoon after the fact, about not cooperating
with the investigation?
A: We ..discussed what we weregoing to say: We agrecd.on version of the truth, The LT and
SFCIIIIINgathered the three of Us and I) to make sure we were
all firing Onthe same
Q: Did the LT. or SFC threaten any of you if you told the truth?
A: NO. . •
Q; What was the agreement or the story to be told by all of you at the conclusion of that
meeting?
A: We agreed to say that we detained the two Iraqi's, released them, last seeing them standing
on the side of the road,
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A: Yes:
Q; Who?
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knows the guYS were in the Water,
Q HoW were you treated during, this interview?
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SWORN TEME. OF SP 21 JAN 04„ CONTINUED!
A
o into river?
later, maybe a week after incident It was after he sat us down, to talk to us.
*d he o . into the dyer?. ,
A I think to :prove to himselfthat we didn't kill anybody:
Q: Did he go in. one9
Yep:::::
t did- you!. patrol do to their vehicle after they were detained?
A; As far as I know we lleefftt it on side of the road. I do not remember anyone touching the
vehicle after we detained thPln.
Qz Have. any members of your unit conducted such acts in the past?
Al Yes, they threw another Iraqi off of a bridge before. I was told he survived.
Q: When diclibia take place? .
A A cob.* of montes a O.,
Q: Who actually threw hn in
A: I was told, it WAS SGT
Q: What bridge was used
A I am not sure.
Q: What city did it take place .in?
A In Bala They said it was a floating bridge.
Q: Who was there that m t7
A I was not there that ni t, so I am not sure. But it was common knowledge within the
platoon. I think that is where they got the idea from for this incident: . •
Q: DO you know why they stopped this individual and why they threw him into the river?
A: Ido not blow.
Q: How did members of your platoon initially hear about the man dying?
A: We were old that there was an e-mail going up the chain of command.
Q: Who told you?e," .644, -
A; LTIIIIIIffor SF
Q: I provided 'yen with a pliOtograph of the area near the bridge which is marked. Are the
marking on the photograph made by you?
At Yes. ,
Q: What do the markings represent?
A: The location where they stood near the river, my location and the location of the Bradley's.
And the location where I thought I saw the two Iraqi's as we were leaving the area.
Q: Other than who is mentioned in this statement, is anyone else aware of the truth about what
occurred that night?
Az Yes, my company commander, aware of the truth because he talked _
with us about the version of the story we agreed UpOn.
Q: Is CPT ware of the fact that members of his unit pushed those two men
into the river? . '. 4-,5-; 'Se
river9 n44.5) e - ; 2
d SGT
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SWORN. STATEMENT OF SPC
A: Very well.
Q Were you given the opportunity to take any breaks today during the interview?
At Yes,
Q: Did you make this statement of your own free will?
Yes,,
0; Did Yon. read this statern0' before yon signed it?
1111026-Ci b /4-C
Q: WereyOr.ii:tVe2jthe opportunity to make changes to the statement before you signed-it?
A; VES
Q: Is there -anything else you would like to add to this matter under investigation?
A: Yes, I am concerned aborti:: eturning to my unit now that I have told the complete truth, I am
concerned that members of unit will want to harm the when they discover that I am the one
that told the complete truth. .L :car they will try to physically hurt me. I prefer to not go back to
my unit or any other unit within my brigade,
Q; Anything else?
A: No.MEND OF STATEMENITN
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- -- -- ... •—•• SIGNATURE ,
STATEMENT
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SUBSCRIBED ANB.BwoBN.To BEFORE ME, A
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JANUARY 2004, AT Tosa#,. ntAg. •-• •
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FOR USE •OF T-4 -4.5 FORM, sS• .E .E. .A. i.R. 1. 9.0..-.4. 5 : r.r.t.i.t P ,...R OPONEN. . T iiiii:0y*c**iiiti*ptivi-vtitit.i. ii# STAFF fok.'... . .
PERSONNEL : • : i •• ..: . .-. Lt.,i..h.te4-.. • -• •
svvc30g31 .'$iATaIENT OF SP6 1 JAN 04, CONTINUEM.,
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• HAVE READ OR HAVE HAD READ TO ME THIS STATEMENT wmcx BEGINS
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---- • • UNDERSTAND THE CONTENTS OF THE ENTIRE STATEMENT MADE
THE
1 •_:•-• • • -: CORRECTIONS AND HAVE tirtiAlsp. THE smug F _ STATEMENT IS TRUE. I
PAGE CONT•AINING TH• E STA"T•"E •sM I•S EMNTA. LIlkAE V•I )E. MADCt.s,-Q STA•T •E•` M• • ENT WITHO.U T B•• ENEFIT OR.
Otkett& • UNLAWFUL INFLUENCE, VNLAwful, • REWARD, WITHOUT THREAT PUNISHMENT, AND WITHOUT
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