Commentary
The forgotten casualties: Falling thru the cracks in the Army’s duty of care
By Ted Newcomen
Online Journal Guest Writer


Jul 4, 2008, 00:22

It was just another tragic headline in a Florida newspaper: Area woman killed in Iraq -- Father confirms his daughter is third casualty in past three months. The article went on to describe how Army SPC Oprah Nestling, aged 26, (not her real name or age) had been killed in combat overseas in January 2006. No details were provided by the Department of Defense and her father declined to make any further comment.

However, a few days later her name was removed from the website of Iraq Coalition Casualty Count and no further information appeared in the local paper. Further investigation revealed that SPC O. Nestling had not been killed on active service in Iraq but was supposedly found slumped dead on the floor of a barrack room at Ft. Bragg, N.C.

Fast forward 30 months and two applications submitted through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and the army released a partial report with key pieces of information withheld, listing the cause of death as ‘undetermined.’

So how did an active 26 year-old female soldier die alone in a total stranger’s barrack room on a US Army base? How come the manner and cause of her death is still undetermined? Why have the authorities failed to come to a satisfactory conclusion concerning her demise? Why are they still withholding vital information?

The heavily censored details in the partial report reveal the tragic story of a young woman with chronic psychological problems which begs the question, how did such a person with so many problems come to be accepted into the military in the first place? Was her psychological entry-screening really so inadequate or has the desperate need to put boots on the ground meant that standards had been lowered to such an extent that severe depression and bazaar self-destructive behavior are no longer seen as being a disqualification for entry?

You don’t have to dig far into the Army documents to find that Nestling had severe psychological problems prior to and after entry into the service. Even before being sent overseas she was mixing prescription anti-depressants with alcohol and once had her stomach pumped in what may have been a failed suicide attempt.

Whilst stationed in Egypt, she again attempting suicide and was evacuated to a medical center in Germany where she was diagnosed with a borderline personality disorder and medicated for depression.

An Army mental health counselor who knew her during this period later incongruously commented to investigating officers that Nestling was ‘chronically suicidal, but at the time had no desire to kill herself, but ‘based on her history and our conversations I felt she would kill herself with[in] a year.’

Nestling was repatriated to mainland USA but was again reported as making suicidal gestures. She spent about two months at Walter Reed Hospital where she signed a Suicide Prevention Agreement.

The Army decided that Nestling would be chaptered out of the service and she was sent to Ft.Bragg, N.C. for processing and discharge. In early December 2005, she was again drinking in barracks and later hospitalized for cutting herself, and held for yet another psychological evaluation.

In early January 2006, she failed to turn up for duty and was subsequently reported absent without leave. A few days prior to this, it is known Nestling was found asleep on a couch in the barrack-block day room she shared with fellow soldiers. She awoke for an incoming phone call and asked them to leave so she could hold a private conversation. On their return the door was locked and despite banging loudly for quite awhile they had to resort to using a credit card to slip the lock and gain entry. Nestling was passed out on a couch with the phone still pressed to her ear. She continued to sleep most of the day and this was the last time she was seen alive. About midday, five days later, her body was found fully clothed and slumped on the floor of another barrack room (not her own). Evidence suggests she had been living in the vacant room for a couple of days.

Nestling’s own room had been checked for her whereabouts the previous late afternoon after she was posted missing. An unmade bed covered with pill bottles was found together with strange journal entries/letters (which were not thought to be suicidal). Conflicting witnesses statements to investigating officers both deny and claim Nestling was drinking heavily.

Nestling’s death may or may not be a suicide. We will only know when the authorities finally release all the relevant documents and reveal the manner and cause of this young soldier’s death. What’s certain is that the number of Army suicides has doubled in the past four years and is symptomatic of an organization in severe crisis.

SPC Nestling was dumped alone into a decommissioning facility with total strangers, where odd behavior like sleeping all day, locking oneself inside a shared day-room, binge drinking and abusing prescription drugs were ignored, or worse, accepted as normal behavior. A place where she did not make friends or socialize and where fellow soldiers forgot the first rule drummed into them during basic training, i.e., you look after each other -- that’s what keeps you alive.