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Soldier’s mother seeks end to senseless deaths
Huntsville Item
Friday, July 11, 2008
Huntsville resident Larraine McGee urged a Senate panel on Friday to take action and end the unnecessary deaths of U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq.
McGee testified on Capitol Hill in Washington during the Senate Democratic Policy Committee hearing investigating electrocution deaths of troops in Iraq.
The hearing was called to take a closer look at the failure to correct faulty electrical work on military bases.
McGee’s son, Staff Sgt. Christopher Lee Everett, 23, a member of the Texas Army National Guard, was electrocuted in September 2005, while using a power washer to clean sand from beneath a Humvee.
Everett was assigned to the Army National Guard’s 2nd Battalion, 112th Armor Regiment, 56th Brigade Combat Team out of Arlington in North Texas.
Also testifying at the Senate hearing was Cheryl Harris, mother of Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth of Pittsburgh.
Maseth, an Army Ranger and Green Beret, was electrocuted in January 2008 while taking a shower in his Army barracks in Baghdad.
In addition, U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands, and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, released letters they’ve sent to Defense Secretary Robert Gates on the electrocutions.
During her testimony before the committee, McGee said, “I plead with you to do something to bring an end to this unnecessary cause of death to our soldiers. They should not have to worry about stepping into a shower or using a power washer in the safety of an established base.”
The soldiers’ mothers said KBR and the Army knew of the electrical problems before their sons’ deaths.
KBR had inspected Maseth’s housing 11 months before he died.
The inspector noted that the main circuit panel, the secondary feeder panel and the water tank were not grounded, Harris said.
Grounding reduces the risk of electrocution. Maseth’s family has sued KBR.
McGee said she had been told by the Army that her son’s death was unique.
An Army report blamed his death on an improperly grounded generator that powered the power washer.
McGee said she was told Everett’s death led to all generators in Iraq being properly grounded.
But in April, she learned from a reporter the Army had issued a report on soldiers’ electrocutions calling them the “unexpected killer.”
The report urged the Army to ensure contractors properly grounded electrical systems.
“All this time, I thought Chris’ accident was an isolated incident,” she said. “My son should not have died. Ryan Maseth should have never died. Proper grounding is a basic safety requirement. The problem was known about long before Chris’ death.”
McGee and her husband, Alton, have spent the week on Capitol Hill telling her story to members of the House and Senate, according to Bonnie A. Buchanan, Brady’s deputy press secretary.
Buchanan said Brady is urging the Pentagon to expedite all congressional requests for information concerning the matter, and asking for an accounting of steps that have been taken, or are under way, to inspect and correct poorly grounded equipment in military facilities in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“To lose one American solider due to faulty grounding is unacceptable,” Brady said. “To lose many more is simply unforgivable.
“I am extremely proud of Mrs. McGee for having the courage to travel to Washington to tell the nation about her son’s death and the need to prevent any more lives from being lost, especially when it is preventable.”
“Thinking this was the first death by electrocution of a soldier in Iraq, Mrs. McGee initially interpreted the death as an accident,” Buchanan said. “However, Mrs. McGee was horrified to find that there have been at least 13 similar fatal accidents and many more injuries.”
McGee met with Cornyn in his office Thursday and he sent a letter to Gates on Friday.
“Our troops worldwide have a reasonable expectation that their living areas and equipment will be safe,” Cornyn wrote to Gates. “As I know you agree, our troops are our most precious resource.
“They should be able to focus on fighting our enemies abroad without having to worry about the safety of their facilities and equipment. I request that you give this issue the attention that it warrants.”
“It will require your leadership to ensure that the chain of command runs this issue to ground to prevent further unnecessary loss of life and limb,” Cornyn added. “Our troops’ work environments in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan are dangerous enough without the added hazards of being electrically shocked while in our own military facilities.”
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