Isle airman killed by shot from U.S. base, parents say
Associated Press
DINUBA, Calif. » The shot in the chest that killed a 22-year-old airman in southern Iraq was not fired by the enemy, but by someone on his base, his parents said.
Even as they mourn the death of their son, Hickam Air Force Base Airman 1st Class Carl Jerome Ware Jr., Carl and Rosalie Ware are trying to find out who fired at him and why.
They told the Fresno Bee that military officers said their son was killed Saturday by personnel from his base at Camp Bucca, an internment center for captured insurgents, as he made his way back to barracks at the end of his shift.
Carl Ware Jr. was a military security officer with the 886th Expeditionary Security Squadron.
Military officers told the family they were investigating the shooting to try to determine if it was accidental or deliberate.
Officials at Hickam Air Force Base did not confirm or deny the family's account other than to say his death did not happen in combat and that it was being investigated.
There is no date set for the end of the investigation, Maj. Charles Anthony, a spokesman for the Hawaii National Guard, said yesterday.
"They just want to do a thorough job and make sure they have all the facts," he said.
Family members said they will remember the young soldier as a caring, principled man.
"He died doing what he wanted to do," Rosalie Ware said.
Carl Ware Jr. will be buried next week in Glassboro, N.J., his wife's hometown.