[Ang]

http://www.heraldargus.com/articles/2011/0...63741734789.txt

Marine’s parents ‘angry’ over shooter’s 15-year sentence

By Bridget Flynn
Published: Friday, February 18, 2011 5:06 PM CST
Staff writer

1-866-362-2167 ext.13870

bflynn@heraldargus.com

WESTVILLE — Joshua Birchfield’s father said he felt like his hands were tied when a JAG officer told him that his son’s alleged killer received 15 years in prison for the crime.

“What can I do?” said Bruce Birchfield. “I believe if the Marine Corps would have anything to do with it, they would have taken him and shot him, but their hands are tied by rules of engagement.”

Lance Cpl. Joshua H. Birchfield, 24, died one year ago on Feb. 19 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan, according to the Department of Defense. He was killed by small arms fire while on a dismounted patrol.

The contractor found guilty of killing Birchfield was sentenced in an Afghanistan court to 15 years in prison.

When asked whether she thinks the sentence was adequate, Shelley Hacker, Joshua’s mother, pointedly said, “No.”

“I was angry” Hacker said. “If (the contractor) is working for our government, I think he should have been tried in our government, and he would have gotten life (in prison) or the death penalty.”

A rifleman, Birchfield was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif.

Birchfield’s patrol team was ambushed by the security guards assigned to protect a highway paving project from Taliban-installed roadside bombs. He was almost finished with his first deployment.

While Bruce Birchfield emphasized that he takes no issue with any branch of the military, he said he has “hostility” toward the U.S. government regarding the war in Afghanistan.

“I have a lot of hostility in me and grief,” he said. “Unfortunately sometimes the hostility overcomes the grief.”

Bruce Birchfield said he is working with Congressman Joe Donnelly (D-2nd district) to find out what American companies are funding contractors in Afghanistan.

“Our soldiers are fighting two entities: contractors and insurgents, every time they go out whether it’s a routine patrol or whatever,” he said.

Bruce Birchfield said the man convicted of killing his son had no birth certificate, no license to carry a gun, and no supervision. But, according to Bruce Birchfield, he did have “a quantity of opium on him.”

American troops have to shoot a flare gun before they can return fire in hostile doings, Birchfield said. He also wants to see this rule changed. Donnelly’s press secretary, Elizabeth Shappell, said Donnelly is sending a letter to Secretaries of Defense and State “asking them to take steps to ensure that incidents like the one that tragically took the life of Lance Cpl. Birchfield do not happen again.”

Donnelly is inquiring about what the departments can do to improve the safety of U.S. soldiers when interacting with local security contractors, she said.

[Ang]

http://www.heraldargus.com/articles/2011/0...5f282983258.txt

Still in ‘The Ville’



Bruce Birchfield, right, and mother Shelley Hacker look at pictures of Birchfield, who was killed one year ago in Afghanistan in Operation Enduring Freedom at age 24. Photo by Bob Wellinski
Family of fallen Marine say mischievous attitude lives on one year after his death
By Bridget Flynn
Published: Friday, February 18, 2011 5:06 PM CST
Staff writer

1-866-362-2167 ext.13870

bflynn@heraldargus.com

WESTVILLE — Joshua Birchfield is trying from beyond his grave to get his sisters in trouble, they said.

“Things will happen,” according to his little sister Emily Birchfield, 15.

The Westville Marine who died one year ago on Feb. 19 in Afghanistan left a gap in his family’s life that they describe merely as “horrible.”

It was “horrible” spending the last Christmas without him, Emily and his mother Shelley Hacker said.

But when asked about the pain of losing him, the family quickly change the topic to the presence he still has in their hearts, and the mischief they say he is still up to.

While on a trip to Walmart for Christmas shopping, a gift set of coffee mugs fell off the shelf as Emily and her sister Rachael, 28, passed it. A mirror fell off a wall in a bathroom as Rachael was preparing for Joshua’s funeral. These acts are not being done by a poltergeist, they say but by their brother who used to love to get them into trouble.

And Joshua’s favorite song, “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey, will play at poignant times, they said.

“We’ll be talking about him and that song will play on the radio or TV,” Rachael said.

Lance Cpl. Joshua H. Birchfield, 24, died while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan, according to a Department of Defense press release. He was killed by small arms fire while on a dismounted patrol. Birchfield’s patrol team was ambushed by the security guards assigned to protect a highway paving project from Taliban-installed roadside bombs.

Birchfield was killed by a contractor during a routine operation when he was near the end of a deployment in which he had seen fierce combat, his parents said.

“He said, ‘Mom, you don’t have to worry, the hard part is over,’” she said. “Then two days later, we got a knock on the door.”

Hacker cried as she remembered the feeling of loss while she spent her first Christmas without her son.

“It was his favorite holiday,” she said through tears.

Hacker succinctly described the first year of living without him as “not good.”

But she said the pain she and her family have experienced is being partly healed by the work she and Bruce Birchfield, Joshua’s father, are taking with Congressman Joe Donnelly (D-2nd district) to enact steps to ensure no U.S. troops are killed by U.S.-paid contractors.

You can go

Backyard Birchfield Bash

Saturday Feb. 19

Union Mills American Legion, 710 Water St.

Doors open at 6 p.m.

Beer, food, dart tournament and DJ

Please bring a dish

$5 cover charge

You can help

The Birchfield Memorial Fund

www.birchfieldmemorial.com

Proceeds benefit the Congressional Medal of Honor fund

Donations can be made to the CMH fund at First Source Bank in Westville

[Ang]

http://thenewsdispatch.com/articles/2011/0...0d725063867.txt

Day of remembrance


‘Birch Bash’ honors Marine killed in action

By Bridget Flynn
Staff Writer
Published: Monday, February 21, 2011 5:07 PM CST

UNION MILLS — Deputy Marshall Steve Aims said you only needed to look around the Union Mills American Legion Post to see that Lance Cpl. Joshua Birchfield made a difference to people.

Aims was addressing the post, which was packed with about 300 of Birchfield’s friends and family Saturday night for the Backyard Birch Bash.

Aims, who described Birchfield as his “brother in arms and in life,” said when he heard about Birchfield’s death, early in the morning of Feb. 19, 2010, “It killed me. It killed everybody in the state of Indiana and this nation.”

Those who knew Birchfield cried and held each other throughout the night as they watched a video montage of photos of Birchfield set to music or as his favorite song, “Don’t Stop Believin’” was played on the sound system.

Jan Buchanan, Birchfield’s aunt, spoke on behalf of his family and described the 365 days between his death and the Birch Bash as the “worst days of our lives.”

She expressed pride that her nephew chose “such wonderful friends” who organized the event.

The attendees shared a potluck dinner and smiles as Birchfield’s memory filled the air.

Aims said that just before he heard of the Marine’s death, he had assured Birchfield’s mother Shelley Hacker several days beforehand that it was likely Birchfield was alive although she had not heard from him in a very long time. Hacker later did hear from Birchfield just a few days before his death. Aims said when he heard of the death he felt as though he had let her down.

Aims said he had to remind himself that he had “a responsibility to the town of Westville” and he “reported for duty” to the help the town get through the pain and to keep members of the media away from Hacker.

Birchfield’s cousin Shane Hale told the attendees that the community’s efforts to remember Birchfield a year later were “pretty overwhelming.” He expressed gratitude that he could see at the event the “same faces” that were mourning Birchfield a year ago.

The Backyard Birch Bash is intended to be held annually. Proceeds will contribute to a stone monument that is being planned to honor those from Westville who have received the Medal of Honor. The monument is planned to be erected at the Birch Fields, formerly known as Prairie Meadow Park, according to Aaron Knowlton, president of the Birchfield Committee.