Death Anniversary

Sgt. Benjamin Thomas Griego

 

As we heard of our son’s death:

 

Our 26 year old son, Sgt. Benjamin Thomas Griego, was found dead in Army housing at White Sands Missile Range on July 13, 2007.  He was serving our country as Cadre, on his second term enlistment, representing the New Mexico Army National Guard. His duty involved training military branches of service for transition to a Warrior Transition course previously transferred to Dona Ana Range from Ft. Knox, Kentucky.

When we first heard of our son’s death, there was no official report released from the Army National Guard to his wife or to us, his parents.  The information we received early that morning on July 13th, was that our son had died.  The information was received from the public through their phone calls and visits of sympathy and condolences.

As we tried to make sense of this, we brushed it off as gossip since the rumor had come from a Wal-Mart employee.  Later, we learned that it had been channeled down from a sergeant on post at White Sands Missile Range to a family member employed at the local Wal-Mart in Clovis, NM.  That in itself was devastating and shocking to find this out in this manner.  We were on the phone early that morning frantically trying to make contact with someone from the White Sands Missile Range and the Army National Guard in Santa Fe, NM who would put these rumors to rest.  But to my disbelief, we were notified hours later that the worst had turned out to be true, our beloved son was gone.
Jeronimo, Ben’s father, was the last person to speak to Ben just hours before his death. He had made his father promise that he would call him while he was on the range the next day. We had made plans with Ben to pick up his father at the airport in El Paso, TX Monday, July 16^th after duty. His itemized phone statement showed two phone calls were made to housing on base that evening.  We believe that he was trying to make accommodations for his father’s visit.

Ben was 26 years old, and the youngest of my three sons.  He kept close contact with us.  We spoke to him every day, we knew our son, and nothing was out of the ordinary the day prior. Everything was going well for him, except for altercations he had been having with three unit members who had recently returned from Iraq.  A DVD was given to us by his commander on the night of the Rosary, July 19^th , which clearly demonstrates that problems existed.

My son presented a formal class on “Integrity”, ordered by the commander.  The commander,  first sergeant, and unit members were present.  The class was recorded on a DVD.  Some of the unit members admitted to “bum rushing” Ben before he presented the class.  On the same DVD, a death threat was made.  This was three weeks prior to his death.  The unit members admitted to bum rushing him and the commanding officer, the highest commanding officer present, asked if it was “round two”.  She was well aware what was going on.

Criminal Investigation Division

Our experience with the CID is that they were quick to close his case, claiming self-infliction and filling  in the blanks without thoroughly investigating claims.  We, his family, had real concerns and questions and presented concrete evidence.  The CID Senior Agent from El Paso, Texas seemed too bothered to return phone calls and delayed and rescheduled meeting after meeting.  That went on for months.  The CID Agent scheduled a meeting in November, 2007 and finally met with us in March, 2008.

We could not and do not understand why the CID did not keep or know the whereabouts of Ben’s blood stained clothes he wore the night of his death.  They were not aware that the Ft. Bliss Casualty office had picked up and washed the clothes, and made sure to destroy evidence in an on-going investigation.  Even to this day some blood stains still remain.

We discovered, through emails from a NM Representative (now Senator) in February 2009, that the CID closed my son’s case in October 12, 2008.   No official notification was given to the family about the case being closed.  How do they not think that this does not warrant personal and public outrage?  We are still in contact with the state representatives and senators in the hope of getting some support from them.

Autopsy Report

The original autopsy report was written exactly the way we heard  it from the men in his unit.  These were the men who were with him the night he died; the men with whom our son had altercations; the men who admitted to bum rushing Ben on the DVD; the men who had threatened him, as recorded on
the DVD, and the men who served as honor guards in burying our son.  They made our son sound like he was a drunk, pulling pranks, and that he premeditated his death by giving a key to his roommate that night, but in fact the roommate had a key months prior to his death.
The original autopsy report, which had erroneous entries of  race and weight, and another report with
testimony from the members who we suspected of killing him, became final legal documents.  We question why they would make these entries when the final report of the investigation had not been completed or finalized.

In the original autopsy report, physical evidence was noted:  a singed eyebrow, cut index finger, split
lip, and the examiner claimed his hyoid bone was intact.  After having an independent second autopsy report completed, we are told that his hyoid bone is missing. We, Ben’s family, request to have the hyoid bone returned; this clearly belongs with my son’s remains.  Why would the Army Examiner remove my son’s hyoid bone, and keep it without notifying the family?  According the Pathologist from the Department of the Army, they kept it for evidence.  The family asks,  “evidence of what?  Is it broken and the cause of death strangulation?”

Lastly

Every day we feel the void that my family experiences in their daily lives, as I see it in them and they
see it in us.

We have read many other stories of other soldiers’ questionable deaths and it saddens us that we share the same grief, emptiness, and alienation from what has taken place with our children in the military.  My thoughts and prayers go out to you.  God Bless.

Judy & Jeronimo
Griego

Link to interview:  Even More Suspicious Non-combat Deaths

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Class on Integrity at White Sands Missile Range

Picking up Patterns in Military “Investigations” of Non-combat Deaths: Part 1

I want to tell you about a DVD I received from one of our families.

I cannot simply post it in its entirety for reasons of privacy protection. So, I’ve decided to describe it and include a short clip.

This is video taken on June 21, 2007. It is taking place on the patio of a modest house on the White Sands base.

This will be a “formal” class on integrity, according to the Captain of Bravo Company, but there is a party atmosphere. Some of the soldiers are dressed in desert fatigues, some in shorts and T-shirts. Nearly everyone has a beer and some of the young men go inside before Sgt. Ben Griego begins the “class” to get more beer.

The Captain encourages everyone to get comfortable, and a clearly nervous Ben Griego comes out through the sliding screen patio door and rinses his head under the outside tap while the others arrange themselves around the patio.

He asks the Captain if her daughter must videotape the event and is told that things can be cut out of the video later if he wants.

The First Sergeant is seated in the middle of the patio with the others standing.

The Captain has electric clippers in her hands, and Ben asks if she has a one guard on it. Some of the lower ranking soldiers suggest that she use no guard when shaving Ben’s head.

Although there is some nervous laughter, to me the scene seems edgy, with trainees obviously delighting in the humiliation to come.

Ben is twenty six years old, a good-natured, clean cut young man who was caught lying about where he was one morning when he didn’t show up for work. He was stationed at Sante Fe, NM and taught a Warrior Transition class at White Sands one to three weeks per month.

He is taking this thing seriously even though he is smiling and trying to maintain some dignity.

The Captain, who appears amused throughout the video, asks, “Do you need a beer or something so you can start giving the class?” Ben says, “No.”

The Captain tells the group who have gone into the house to get more beer to turn the music down so the class can begin. Ben asks, “This is a formal class, isn’t it?” The Captain confirms that it is a formal class.

As Ben asks the group to “listen up” so that he can deliver his confession, without excuses, something extraordinary happens. Clearly audible from the group of soldiers on the patio:

“SALUD, CAVRON!” (Translated not literally, but in the vernacular slang by his father: “Hey, bitch“)

“DAM GUERO FROM TEXAS!” (“Dam gringo from Texas!”)

“PINCHE CAVRON” (“F___ing bitch!”)

I see the momentary look on Ben’s face showing that he hears the totally inappropriate remarks, yet he does not reply to the insults. Most of the group is Hispanic and they all, including the Captain and First Sergeant, understand what is being said. The video clip appears below. Click on the arrow to play:

There is no admonition from either the Captain or the First Sergeant, although this would appear to be a more grievous offense than what Ben is being punished for. These soldiers are insulting an NCO during a formal class on integrity.

Ben went on to tell what happened to merit his punishment with plenty of interruptions and comments from the group. Ben completes his presentation by saying, “All right. That’s the reason I’m getting my head shaved. Are there any questions?”

“I GOT A QUESTION. YOU GOT WITNESSES, DID YOU GET BUM RUSHED EARLIER?” comes from a soldier who earlier insulted him.

Ben says, “Yes.”

The soldier then says, “EXCUSE ME, WHEN DID YOU GET BUM RUSHED?”

The Captain says, “I heard that was round two…”, addressing the soldier.

The soldier replies, “No, no, we already got round three out of the way already”, addressing the Captain.

“Who won?”, asked the Captain.

“He did, puss, we rolled down bar and then come in guillotine…”

Note that he has just called the Captain “puss” and there is no reaction from her or from the First Sergeant.

“So, you’re weak!” the Captain replies.

There is some banter about her remark. They then go back to the matter of the clipper guard.

At the end of the video, the soldier who has just asked about “bum rushing” comes up to Ben and says, “HEY, THE ONLY BAD THING, HEY, THE ONLY BAD THING NOW…YOU’RE REALLY GONNA FIND OUT WHO YOUR "MAN BOYS" ARE. THEY’RE NOT GONNA FIND THE FINGERPRINTS IN THE BACK OF YOUR GRAVE.”
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Three weeks later, on July, 13, 2007, Sgt. Benjamin Griego was found dead in his quarters by his roommate. His death was ruled suicide by hanging, even though there was evidence that his hands and feet were bound.

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His mother and father have explained to me that the soldier who made the threat on the video was obsessed with fighting Ben to show that he was tougher. He never won and Ben was getting tired of the constant challenges.

There were three or four confrontations with this soldier the week of Ben’s death. The group must have been involved in the “bum rushing” incidents. Was there some sort of power struggle for leadership in the unit? Did the Iraq Veterans resent the young combat instructor?

The Captain and First Sergeant were clearly aware of the situation. Why did they do nothing to stop it?

Ben had the habit of calling various family members several times a day. He never expressed any emotions or problems which would have made them think that he would commit suicide.

His father pointed out that he had a .40 Glock in a desk drawer along with ammunition. Why would he choose hanging if he had decided to kill himself?
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I won’t pretend to be an expert on Military culture or rules, but I find the entire “Integrity Class” incident strange and troubling. Perhaps I have some unrealistic and stereotypical ideas about what constitutes Army Discipline, Integrity, and Army Values, not to mention "formal class."

The video does not prove that members of this unit were responsible for Ben’s death, however I think there should have been interviews of all members and that those interviews would be available to the family -- who absolutely do not accept suicide as a cause of death.

Ben’s father described the extreme nervousness of members of the unit at Ben’s funeral, where they served as the Honor Guard.

The hyoid bone was removed at Ben’s autopsy and requests for it have been denied. The condition of the hyoid bone is useful in determining details about a hanging death.

The clothing he was wearing when found were requested unwashed so that they could be forensically analyzed, but were sent from Ft. Bliss freshly laundered and still wet.

The Army CID declared the death self-inflicted and the case was closed in 2008. Documents the family has requested have been routinely denied without reason.

Braveheart