Thursday, Nov 20, 2008 07:15 EST
A soldier who was ordered to shred documents about two soldiers killed in an apparent friendly fire incident rescued some of the paperwork and provided it to Salon.
On Oct. 14, 2008, Salon
published an article about the deaths of Army Pfc. Albert Nelson and Pfc. Roger Suarez. The Army attributed their deaths in Iraq in 2006
to enemy action; Salon's investigation, which included
graphic battle video and eyewitness testimony, indicated that their deaths were likely due to friendly fire. On the night of Oct. 14, 2008, after the publication of Salon's article, soldiers at Fort Carson, Colo., were ordered to shred documents related to both Nelson and Suarez. As proof that they were ordered to destroy the paperwork, a soldier saved some examples and provided them to Salon. The documents reproduced here are from the file of Albert Nelson. Some personal details have been redacted.
