Laptops for the Wounded

Mom donates laptops to wounded soldiers By MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press Writer
Sat Mar 24, 6:12 AM ET



WASHINGTON - Laura Brown, a mother with a son who fought in the Iraq war, is trying to improve conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center — one laptop computer at a time.

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The 50-year-old from Cody, Wyo., was chatting on the Internet with the mother of a wounded soldier two years ago when the mother mentioned she had to print out her son's e-mails and take them to him at Walter Reed because there weren't enough laptop computers to go around.

Brown, whose own son had recently returned safely from the war, thought the solution to that problem seemed incredibly easy.

"It just kind of hit me," she said. "If one person needed one, then there's others. ... I mean, my son had e-mail in Iraq. I was really stunned."

So Brown formed a group, Laptops for the Wounded, to raise money for the cause.

Since its fundraising effort began in November 2005, Brown's organization has donated 27 computers to military hospitals around the country — 24 of them to Walter Reed.

On Friday, Brown flew to Washington to deliver 10 donated laptops to the hospital in person.

Those computers, which were upgraded and refitted with new equipment, included Web cameras so soldiers could lay eyes on their families from afar.

"She basically just made it her mission," said Lisa Ramdass, a case manager at the hospital who has been working with Brown to coordinate the donations.

Ramdass said the laptops are used for more than e-mail. One soldier who worked with a donated laptop couldn't speak, and was able to communicate with his family and his doctors by typing on the computer. Others who have eye injuries use the laptops to watch movies or television up close.

The hospital, flooded with wounded from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has attracted media and congressional scrutiny in the last month, due to reports of shoddy living conditions for soldiers housed there.

Brown said she can relate with the loneliness and isolation of the wounded because she is also disabled, having suffered knee and back injuries in recent years. She is also inspired by her son, who lost his young wife to illness just weeks after they were married several years ago.

Wyoming Rep. Barbara Cubin (news, bio, voting record) said Brown's efforts show the difference one person can make.

"Out of the goodness of her heart, she's turned a few small donations into a national campaign," she said.

___

On the Net:

Laptops for the Wounded: http://www.laptopsforthewounded.com


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Soldier Actually Died of Friendly Fire

Officers blamed for Tillman case errors By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer
40 minutes ago



WASHINGTON - A Pentagon investigation will recommend that nine officers, including up to four generals, be held accountable for missteps in the aftermath of the friendly fire death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman in Afghanistan, senior defense officials said Friday.

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The Defense Department inspector general will cite a range of missteps and inappropriate conduct as the military probed the former football star's death on the battlefront in 2004, said one defense official.

The official, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said it appears that senior military leaders may not have had all the facts or worked hard enough to get the facts of what happened on that day in April 2004.

The Army persisted in telling Tillman's family he was killed in a conventional ambush at least 11 days after the death, at his nationally televised memorial service — when dozens of soldiers knew that was not the case.

Many soldiers — those immediately around Tillman at the scene of the shooting, his immediate superiors and high-ranking officers at a command post nearby — knew within minutes or hours that his death was caused by friendly fire. The inspector general's investigation has focused on how high up the chain of command that knowledge went.

Officers from the rank of colonel and up will be blamed in the report, according to one officer who has been informed of the findings.

The commander of Tillman's 75th Ranger Regiment was Col. James C. Nixon. Last year he was named director of operations at the Center for Special Operations at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla.

According to the officials, the report will not make charges or suggest punishments, but it will recommend the Army look at holding the nine officers accountable.

The Army, which requested the inspector general review last year, said in a statement released Friday that it "plans to take appropriate actions after receiving the inspector general's report."

The inspector general is expected to release the report Monday, and also speak to Tillman's family about the results of the investigation.

The report's findings were first reported on Friday by CBS News.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070324/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/tillman_friendly_fire