MURDER SUSPECT'S COMBAT CLAIMS DISPUTED
FORT DRUM — Officials from the Army base are looking into the veracity of claims that Spc. Joshua Hunter, the military policeman accused this week of killing two fellow soldiers, experienced trauma during his Iraq deployment.
Some of the soldier's family members said this week that the 20-year-old military policeman had returned from a recent deployment mentally disturbed. Emily Hunter, his wife, told the Associated Press, "He saw his best friend get blown up to pieces and he tried to put him back together. He was never right after that."
But the unit Spc. Hunter deployed with experienced no combat deaths or even injuries during its 15-month Iraq deployment that ended in mid-2009, although it had two non-combat related deaths, said Maj. Frederick C. Harrell, a spokesman for the 10th Mountain Division.
"We're looking into whether his statements are true or not," Maj. Harrell said. "There's questions on it, so we've just got to answer the questions."
Fort Drum is cooperating with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department's investigation of the case, he said.
Spc. Hunter's record did not include a Purple Heart award or a Combat Action Badge, Maj. Harrell said. The latter can be awarded to any soldier who has "engaged" with the enemy, meaning he has fired at targets or been fired upon.
The absence of an award on a soldier's record does not prove that he did not see combat, Maj. Harrell said, because soldiers are responsible for updating their own records and must be nominated for awards by superiors.
But Maj. Harrell, who served in Iraq during the same deployment as Spc. Hunter and his alleged victims, Spc. Diego A. Valbuena, 23, and Spc. Waide T. James, 20, said the absence raised questions.
The two victims were found dead Tuesday in their off-post apartment at 28550 Fox Hollow Run, part of the Meadows Apartments complex in Evans Mills. Police said they were killed Sunday or Monday.
The 10th Mountain Division Special Troops Battalion, since renamed the division's Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, was responsible for U.S. and coalition forces in eight Iraqi provinces south of Baghdad during its recent Iraq deployment. The main mission of the unit's 1,000 soldiers was to partner with and train the Iraqi police and army.
E-mails to the Times this week from two people who said they served in the unit on that deployment said the claims about Spc. Hunter's traumatic war experiences couldn't be true.
"It was Josh's first deployment and he was disappointed we didn't see any action," said an anonymous writer. "And that's the thing — WE DIDN'T SEE ANY ACTION ... there were no purple hearts awarded, no combat action badges earned during our tour. No one was injured or killed — we were never attacked the entire year we were there and never had to fire a shot."
Another writer, a soldier who requested anonymity because he is currently deployed outside the country, said, "Everything I am reading about the horrors of Iraq and (Spc. Hunter) seeing his best friend murdered is a lie, we never engaged the enemy even once over there, not a single one in our company was killed. In fact only once did we even see dead bodies in Iraq and Hunter wasn't even present, I know because it was my platoon that went out that day."
Maj. Harrell said he was working to gather more information about the unit's deployment. The spokesman said he had couldn't say whether Spc. Hunter may have interacted with troops from other units and seen injuries, deaths or other troubling sights among their ranks.
