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| Plea for Slain Soldier's Two Surviving Sisters |
| 2004-04-12 |
| ...From www.foxnews.com . 'With three daughters serving in Iraq, John and Lori Witmer's family Web site collected photos from Baghdad, notes to home and messages of encouragement. "Keep praying! They're almost home!" a recent entry says. But the top notice, dated Sunday, carried grim news: "We regret to inform you that Michelle Witmer (search) was killed in action April 9th ...." The 20-year-old private died when her Humvee was ambushed in Baghdad, making her the first woman in the Wisconsin National Guard to die in combat. Her family is asking the military to stop her sisters from being sent back to Iraq after this week's funeral. "I can't live another year like I've lived this one," John Witmer told The Associated Press. "The sacrifice that this family's made can never be understood by someone who hasn't gone through it... It's a burden I can't bear. My family can't bear it." Michelle's 24-year-old sister, Rachel, served in the same unit, the 32nd Military Police Company, which was expected to leave Iraq shortly but just had its duty extended 120 days. Charity Witmer, Michelle's twin, was sent to Iraq late last year as a medic with Company B of the Wisconsin Guard's 118th Medical Battalion. The surviving sisters were expected home Monday, two days before Michelle's funeral. The Witmers also have two sons. The family said state National Guard leaders agreed to take their appeal to the Pentagon on Monday. Relatives also were seeking help from Sen. Russ Feingold, and Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. John Witmer acknowledged the final decision of whether to return will be up to his daughters. But he said they would have to understand "how terribly we need to know they're not going back." Witmer said he worried about his daughters joining the military but felt at the time that duty with the National Guard would be relatively safe, especially with a military police unit. "My daughters wanted the freedom of being able to call their shots with their education," he said. "They were using that to go to school." Jan Pretzel, the sisters' grandmother, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that by February, Michelle had an inkling her unit might soon ship out of Iraq because members were told to tell their families to stop shipping packages. "This is a REALLY GOOD SIGN!!" she wrote in an e-mail. "The redeployment process (though it may be long) is finally beginning! There is finally a light at the end of the tunnel!" ...First of all, my thoughts and prayers are with the Witmer family. This must be a nightmare of truly unimaginable proportions for them. The other thing to keep in mind is that if the other sisters are sent home, watch for the dam to break on this subject. There are a surprisingly large number of siblings serving together in Iraq, and there is at least one father/son team I'm aware of. This is going to bring up discussion of 'the Sullivan Law' - a VERY badly misunderstood piece of military rulemaking. The Sullivan POLICY - for tis' its true name - was promulgated after the loss of the five Sullivan brothers on a single USN cruiser early in WWII. After that, POLICY - not law, not regulation - stated that the forces would no longer assign siblings or other closely related family members to the same combat theatre or ship. This action inspired the movie 'Saving Private Ryan' - but it is a policy only - the DOD still reserves the right to say 'No', and with the tight personnel levels out there, I think you're going to see some strong resistance from DOD and the services to sending anybody home except at the end of their scheduled tours. |
| Posted by:Mike Kozlowski |
| #6 From the Des Moines Register "Guard bars brothers from serving together" http://desmoinesregister.com/news/stories/c2229999/23882429.html Sounds like they understand the risks. |
| Posted by: sc88 2004-04-12 9:51:27 PM |
| #5 Hey Anon, The Wittmers are ALREADY Democrats, both parents and daughters. I feel very bad for them all and I appreciate their service and sacrifice. Personally, if it were my sister killed, I'd stay to ensure the Jihadis got what was coming to them. But people grieve in different ways. The Sullivan Policy was already in effect when the Sullivan brothers appealed through channels to be together. Their wish was granted but, ironically, the boys elected to split up prior to the mission they would die on as they themselves realized how truly at risk they were...they just didn't get the chance. Poor Mrs. Sullivan looks like a ghost in those old newsreel films. She died soon after her boys. Makes you appreciate what we have. God bless our men and women in uniform. |
| Posted by: JDB 2004-04-12 8:45:43 PM |
| #4 What a surprise, wailing mothers on the media, hello you're daughters and sons are at war, what does it take to get through to these people that this is war??? Welcome to the world, sorry it takes a death in the family to raise you're head out of the sand, realise what is going on and maybe vote differently? |
| Posted by: Anonymous4123 2004-04-12 5:37:51 PM |
| #3 Links to more historical background: The Sullivan brothers USS The Sullivans DD-537 USS The Sullivans DDG-68 |
| Posted by: Mike 2004-04-12 2:36:51 PM |
| #2 "My daughters wanted the freedom of being able to call their shots with their education," he said. "They were using that to go to school." My condilences to the family, but lets understand tha the Military is not some scholarship program. The education is a benny for having served with honor. Unless the women themselves request the transfer they Pentagon should deny the parents request. (IMHO) |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge (VRWC CA Chapter) 2004-04-12 2:18:13 PM |
| #1 this article leave more question than answer. |
| Posted by: muck4doo 2004-04-12 1:20:20 PM |