Army National Guard specialist dies after warning family  
Thursday, October 4th, 2007

Ciara Durkin, a specialist with the Army National Guard, was killed in Afghanistan last Friday with a single gunshot wound to the head.  After she told her family, "If anything happens to me, you guys make sure it gets investigated."  The Pentagon will release no details except that it was a "non-combat related incident."

"We need answers...we want to know how our beloved Ciara spent the last moments of her life, and why was she taken from us," says Maura Durkin, Ciara's sister.  Ciara's mother, Fiona Canavan told CBS, "Biggest shock of my life.  I never, for one minute, thought she would die over there.  Never."  Here's a video clip of the interview with her family:

I love how CBS feels the need to address Durkin's sexuality, even though it has nothing to do with the story.  Nice segway between footage:  "There's something else the family is wondering about.  Whether Durkin's sexual orientation - she was gay - played a role in her death," CBS News correspondent Kelly Wallace said, and then completely shifted gears into where Durkin was born.  Which was an outright lie, since when asked, Durkin's family said they do not believe that had anything to do with it.  But Kelly Wallace really wanted to tell you that.

The Durkin family is requesting an independent investigation.  Death statistics for non-combat related fatalities are difficult to come by, since the cause of death encompasses accidents, suicide, homicide, illnesses, and even negligence of command.  The Durkins are pressing the Army for an official autopsy report.

   

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