Release Lt. Erick Anderson

To:  U.S. Congress

Second Lt. Erick Anderson, of Twinsburg, is charged with murder in the shooting death of an injured Iraqi last August and could face the death penalty from an Army court-martial.

Two sergeants serving with Anderson in the 1st Infantry Division are similarly charged by the Army with pre meditated murder and conspiracy to commit premeditated murder.

News of the charges shocked and outraged Anderson's uncle, Peter Lorenz, 56, of Hudson.

"He's a young kid who's scared to death, but he has said, I haven't done anything wrong,' " Lorenz said of Anderson, 25. "He never witnessed any alleged shooting. He wasn't even present in the vicinity."

"To expect our young men and women sent over there to fight a war to make instantaneous, snapshot, politically correct decisions is just wrong," Lorenz added.

According to the news agency report, Army prosecutors said the incident started when U.S. soldiers spotted a garbage truck apparently dropping homemade bombs in a district of Baghdad. The troops opened fire and a severely wounded Iraqi man pulled himself out of the truck.

The agency report said one of the sergeants testified that he was told by Anderson to do whatever was needed to "put the man out of his misery." The two sergeants allegedly killed the man with machine-gun fire.

A report by Agence France- Presse news service described the shooting as a mercy killing, based on testimony from one of the sergeants and an Iraqi witness during a pre-court-martial hearing in October.

Anderson currently is awaiting what the military calls an Article 32 hearing on the charges, which is similar to a civilian grand jury, according to Army Lt. Col. Steven Boylan, spokesman for the multinational forces in Iraq.

Boylan said results of Anderson's hearing will be submitted to a court-martial-convening authority, which could send the case back for further investigation or on to a formal court-martial heard by a panel of officers serving in Iraq.

The two sergeants have been through the Article 32 process and their cases are pending before the convening authority.

If found guilty, the three soldiers could face a minimum life prison sentence and a maximum penalty of death.

Lorenz said that despite the charges his nephew is "doing remarkably well. He has said, When this is over, I want to get right back with my guys.'

"He said he should be with them and for them, and this is how he gets repaid," Lorenz added. "I have not picked up a sense of bitterness -- I don't see how that's possible, because Erick's character goes 10 miles deep."

Lorenz said Anderson was a linebacker for Twinsburg High School and also played football for Youngstown State University before graduating in 2001 with an engineering degree.

Anderson joined the service because his younger sister, Lauren, was in the Army, and also served a tour of duty in Iraq, the uncle said.

Anderson's parents are divorced, but his mother still lives in Twinsburg. Lorenz said she was "absolutely devastated" by news of the charges against her son.

He said of his nephew: "There's not a mean or selfish bone in his body. When he was a teenager, his idea of fun would be to come and help me get something done for the day. Then it was Let's go fishing or skeet-shooting,' with a smile on his face."

Anderson's next-door neighbors in Twinsburg also spoke highly of him and were surprised to learn of the charges.

"He's a very smart fellow, a stand-up kid," said Gary Vondracek, 60. "He's the kind of kid who would do anything for you."

Vondracek was unaware of the charges against Anderson, and when told of them said, "What's he supposed to do? It's war."

Lorenz repeatedly emphasized that his nephew is not alone in facing this particular consequence of war. "The problem is bigger than my family and my nephew. It's not just us. It's all those other kids facing the same situation.

"I don't see how this can't affect soldiers serving over there. It may cost them their lives," he added. "They're in combat, walking on eggshells because someone doesn't even want the appearance of impropriety in the course of a war.

"There's something wrong, somewhere."
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Our troops were not taken to the war they are fighting in from an American prison. These soldiers volunteered to go to these horrible places to fight for our freedom and security. They are not criminals! I find it very difficult to imagine any scenario where one of our troops should spend the rest of their life in prison, or be given the death penalty for killing a terrorist. We started this war aginst terrorism with over 3,000 deaths of innocent American men, women, and children in the World Trade Centers. It is my opinion that for this action all terrorists world wide deserve nothing less than the death penalty. Be it by lethal injection, electric chair, Soldier, or Marine makes little difference to me. These terrorists do not need to be jailed only to be released to take up arms aginst our brave men and women again like they did in Afghanistan. If rules(that only American's seem to follow) cause the death of even one American, then that is too many.

Please return these Soldiers to their unit at once. We can not fight a war of attrition aginst ourselves and expect to win this war on terrorism. The enemy is laughing at us.

www.defendourtroops.com

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Release Lt. Erick Anderson Petition to U.S. Congress was created by Members of www.defendourtroops.com and written by Alan Swinney (alwuzhere@hotmail.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.