GI Charged in Potential Fragging Case

Hi all.

This is a quick follow-up to adamgreenfield’s prescient diary of several weeks ago. It looks like he may have been right.
From today’s NYT:

The United States military charged a New York Army National Guard member yesterday with murdering his commanding officers last week at a base near Tikrit, Iraq.

The officers, Capt. Phillip T. Esposito, 30, and First Lt. Louis E. Allen, 34, of the 42nd Infantry Division, New York Army National Guard, were first believed to have died after indirect fire hit the window of a building they were in on June 7.

The Times speculates that this may have indeed been an instance of what is known as “fragging”:

Some reports suggested that Sergeant Martinez’s case is the first known allegation in Iraq of fragging, military slang for the murder of a superior officer, often with a grenade, but that could not be confirmed.

Of course, Iraq is nothing like Vietnam.

(Apparently, this was diaried at Kos, yesterday. Please forgive me if this is redundant)

[Correction]: This story was from last week, not several weeks ago.

Author: urizon

I'm a writer living in the Hudson Valley.