Justice For Kenefick? Commander in Deadly Ambush Soon Out of Military NY Media Says

Posted Nov 18, 2011 by Howard Altman

Updated Nov 18, 2011 at 11:18 PM

A few days before Dakota Meyer received the Medal of Honor for valorous actions in Afghanistan, I spoke with the mom of one of the Marines whose body Meyer risked his life trying to recover.

Susan Price told me she missed her son terribly, was very happy that Meyer was being so honored and angry that the Sept. 8. 2009, ambush in the Ganjgal Valley that took her son happened in the first place.

There may finally be the kind of outcome that Price has long sought.

Media in the Buffalo area, where Kenefick grew up, are reporting that a local congresswoman has been told that at least one command officer is being forced out of the military because of his role in the Afghanistan ambush that resulted in the death of Amherst native Aaron M. Kenefick in September 2009, Rep. Kathleen C. Hochul told the Buffalo News.

The military career of a second officer is also in jeopardy, the Amherst Democrat said she was told during a 90-minute meeting with officials of the Army and Marine Corps.

“I asked some hard questions about what went on there, and I believe I was given candid answers,” Hochul told The Buffalo News.

In the months after the ambush at Ganjgal Valley, the Department of Defense investigated how the day went so horribly wrong.

The mission was poorly planned and executed, according to an executive summary issued Nov. 25, 2009.

Those in charge of the mission only expected light resistance, perhaps 10 insurgents at most, not the 50 or more encountered. Field leadership failed as well during the mission, according to the summary. Timely air and artillery support was not provided, investigators concluded.

“The absence of senior leaders in the operations center with troops in contact in the…battlespace, and their consequent lack of situational awareness and decisive action, was the key failure.”

Three unnamed officers, whose names were redacted from the report, received general officer memorandums of reprimand, according to the summary.
Price has been approaching Congress and anyone else who will listen.

It’s not enough, she said, for those in command to receive letters of reprimand.

“It is a dereliction of duty,” said Price. “I want justice for my son and the others.”

I have an email out to her for her reaction.

I’ll let you know what she thinks when I hear back from her.