Naked USFK Soldier Killed by Taxi Cab
Just when you thought you had seen it all in regards to taxi cab related incidents you find out you in fact haven’t. From the Stars and Stripes:
A nude U.S. soldier was struck and killed by an off-base taxi Saturday night, officials said Monday.
U.S. and South Korean officials are investigating the incident in which Spc. Vang B. Her, a 22-year-old fire control repairman with Company B, 302nd Brigade Support Battalion, was killed around 10:30 p.m. near Mount Soyo, about 3 miles north of Camp Casey.
The 46-year-old taxi driver is being held in South Korean police custody because he waited about 30 minutes before reporting the incident, Yangju police said Monday.
Police said the driver reported that a naked soldier dashed in front of his taxi and that he was unable to stop before hitting him.
Witnesses, however, gave conflicting reports that Her was lying in the roadway when hit, according to police.
This is really weird because the area around Mt. Soyo has no clubs or drinking establishments that would attract a GI. The only thing around Mt. Soyo are a few hotels and stores for tourists going to visit the mountain. Possibly he was riding on the subway and fell asleep and woke up at the last stop which is the Soyo Mountain station. He would need to cross the street from the station to get on the sidewalk that would lead south back to Camp Casey.
The only way I see the cab driver getting in trouble is if he was speeding which on that portion of Highway 3. Cab drivers and other vehicles are notorious for speeding and running red lights in that part of town because of the light traffic at night due to it not being a night life area. So you may have a case (if he was drinking) of a drunk soldier walking across the street being hit by a speeding taxi cab running a red light. How the heck he got naked though is anyone guess. Whatever happened it is definitely very weird and hopefully the toxicology results and a full investigation will uncover what happened.
In response to this USFK Commander General B.B. Bell issued this Bells Sends message in regards to this accident. General Bell emphasizes the battle buddy policy and the dangers of over alcohol consumption. However, I know the General means well, but do you have to include in the message reminders to look both ways and check for traffic before crossing the road to a bunch of grown adults? Anyway, no matter what happened the loss of life of a soldier is always tragic and I wish this deceased soldier’s family all the best.
You can read more over at Lost Nomad.
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I would agree the General means well but really, before using this issue as an excuse to go off on an anti-alcohol tirade, before he has seen the toxicology results smacks of anti-alcolohol agenda driven opportunism. Good grief. With all the good advice offered in his Bell Sends message, why did he not extol the virtues of service members remaining clothed in public?
As far as the taxi driver… Perhaps his defenders will conjure (or otherwise invoke the memory of) the ghost of the little girls as justification for running down an American in the middle of a mostly deserted (that time of night) stretch of road. Perhaps his hands were actually guided by these tragic spirits. Where is the Korean outrage? Where is the SBS campaign against dangerous (and often dishonest) taxi drivers?
And after the schoolgirl defense is introduced, maybe USFK will court martial the dead soldier for putting the cab driver through all this stress he's going through.
Oh please. That taxi driver is facing jail time, at least, a minimum fine. Equating a drunk GI being stupid enough to take off all his clothes in middle of nowhere in middle of the night, with two school girls who were going home being flattened like pancakes by tanks is a little stretch.
Tom,
It hasn't been proven he was drunk or took his clothes off. That is why I'm saying wait for the toxicology results and a investigation.
If it was an accident by the cab driver it would be just as equally accidental as what happened in 2002. A tank driver couldn't see the two girls then and a cab driver couldn't see this soldier crossing the road now. That is the similarity people are pointing out.
Tom, you are an ass. An accident is an accident. Neither tha cab driver nor the tank driver saw or attempted to kill anyone and that you cannot see that makes you either a moron or as I suspect a class A Jack-Ass.
The victim's name sounds H'Mong. If so, he would definitely not have been taken for an "American" while nude. The investigation should be interesting.
"A tank driver couldn’t see the two girls then and a cab driver couldn’t see this soldier crossing the road now. That is the similarity people are pointing o"
The difference is this. And it's a big one which you ignore.
The Korean taxi driver is arrested and facing charges for causing the accident of a schmuck who got drunk and who wandered off to nowhere.
Koreans protested in 02 not because GI's were involved in an accident (which is a lie that's constantly spread thru deliberate misinformation), but because there was an impression by the public that Koreans weren't getting justice in their own damn country.
So Tom, how many public demonstrations were there in 2002 by Koreans irate over the deaths of minors killed in traffic accidents by non-GIs? Surely the deaths of the 350 minors run down or otherwise killed by vehicles that year sparked similar demonstrations against Korean drivers. The misinformation agency must be hiding that from us. And of course the public's impression that Koreans were getting justice in their "own damn country" was a reasonable belief based upon an unbiased assessment of the SOFA, and was not influenced in any way by wild stories spread over the internet by "concerned netizens. My personal favourite was the laughing GI drivers, called to account by a KATUSA sickened by their bragging about the incident, who, of course, was immediately turned over to the Korean military, who "disppeared" him. No way that could have been deliberately planted misinformation, right?
Just to continue with lirelou's point, the Korean media was the biggest propagators of misinformation. The media would not report USFK apologies, candlelight vigil, or the fact the girls' families had accepted the apologies and compensation money until the anti-US groups got a hold of them.
Additionally the Korean media than went on and not only spread the KATUSA story but also had the ROK Army tank driver showing everyone how the US soldiers must have intentionally ran over the girls and then backed up over them again with the aid of someone outside the tank directing them.
This is just some of the misinformation surrounding the 2002 incident you can read more here:
http://www.usinkorea.org/1st/TRAGEDY/index.html
In regards to trying the soldiers in Korean courts the SOFA Agreement means on duty incidents are handled by the US military. People who protest this, some how forget that the ROK Army handles both on duty and off duty incidents with their soldiers in Korea.
The hypocrisy is even greater when you consider that the ROK Army has identical SOFA Agreements for their soldiers stationed abroad. Take for example the killing of Peshmerga soldier in Iraq by a Korean soldier or the killing of another Iraqi when a Korean military vehicle struck him. None of these soldiers were tried in Iraqi courts and all were handled by the ROK Army.
In regards to the incident with the GI in question the reason the taxi driver is facing charges is because he waited 30 minutes to report what happened to the police. What was going on during those 30 minutes?
I'm going to have to go up there and straighten shit out.
[…] [GI Korea] Naked USFK Soldier Killed by Taxi Cab Published: Tue, 08 May 2007 07:12:19 +0000 Just when you thought you had seen it all in regards to taxi cab related incidents you find out you in fact haven’t.Â* From the Stars and Stripes: A nude U.S. soldier was struck and killed by an off-base taxi Saturday night, officials said Monday. U.S. and South Korean officials are investigating the incident in which Spc. […] Read More… […]
Word on the street is that the dead soldier in question had semen deposits in his anal cavity. Add another "twist" if you like. I hope this is not true. This story obviously has a lot more to it. The Generals' ill-informed moral grandstanding is however tasteless in the extreme. Using this soldiers death, whatever the circumstances, to further his political aims and rampage against a legal substance is inexcusable opportunism.
Who is to say that had a “battle buddy†been present that there might have been two deaths rather than one? Who is to say that this soldier did not latch on to an undesirable character for a “battle buddy†just so he could escape post? There’s more to be discovered in this case…
That is why I have been saying lets wait for toxicology results and a full investigation because many things like I have pointed out about this incident do not make sense. I'm fairly certain there is more to the story.
Still an Ass Tom, The soldiers were punished under the SOFA, and the chain of command repeatedly appologized for the incident. The US-Korea SOFA is much less stringent than say the Korea-any country SOFA by the way. For accidents, Korea does not get jursidiction and to be fair they don't want it, the US does a very good job of punishing wrong doers. The Koreans wanted a murder trial and in my opinion that is the best reason we ever had to have the SOFA, protecting US soldiers from wrongful prosecution.
And by the way, the ROK military runs over 20-30 children every year, I have never seen a prosecution in the past 5 years.
I had a conversation with a friend, and for what he told me this GI was hicking in Soyo Mountain with his two buddys, and they wanted to higher but he did not, so he decided to go home. The accident happened and the taxi driver stripped him naked so that he could not be identified. I thought that alcohol was involved, and I judged him for that but if what my friend told me is true, we shoul not be judging that soldier or the taxi driver until further information. Anyways I just wanted to share this with you. PLS dont judge me because I dont know what happened… Have a nice day.
When the fact surrounding this come to light, you people will regret what you have said here. I am the partner of the victim, and we were engaged in consensual sex on a quiet section of road when the taxi drove up at speed out of nowhere, fortunately I was the one giving the sword at the time and managed to spot the cars headlights and spring back onto the curb, but Vang got clipped.
Please don't write about that which you do not know, and show a little sympathy for Vang's family
Anonymous, you can go by your usual tag "Tom", no shame in that, you're an ass, don't hide from it.
Anonymous is not Tom. I just checked the IP addresses of each and they don't match. Anonymous is posting from the Netherlands and is not even in Korea. Just another troll.
Damn, GI, I thought I had him. However, in light of previous behavior I still stand by my previous comment, Tom is a complete ass, or asshat, assclown etc…the important word being ass.
Gi, ol Tom might be slicker than you give him credit for. There are many anonymizer/proxy browsers ran out of the netherlands.
The girls were not walking home – they were walking to a friend's birthday party with their fingers in their ears and heads down after 2 or 3 tanks had already passed them. They were walking right on the whiteline at the side of the road.
It is my understanding (from news reports and I think from K-blog house lawyer Carr) that just about all Koreans involved in an accident are "arrested" – but not jailed – and once they come to agreement on compensation with the victim or victim's family, that is that, unless some real criminal negligance is involved that requires a trial for higher charges.
The idea that Korean society went batshit because they thought justice was not going to be done is a mammoth load of crap.
North Korean gun boats shot up several South Korean military gun boats and killed and wounded over a dozen ROK sailors, and these same justice-seeking South Koreans didn't say boo.
They got angry — they got angry at their own government intel for not having predicted the event would happen and putting SK boats out of harm's way — when those boats were not only south of the sea's DMZ but a couple of kms further south just below an artificial demarcation line South Korea's government set up in order to prevent clashes like this.
South Korea's hosting of the World Cup and how well the South Korea's good showing in it has more to do with the level of hate thrown into the streets over the tank accident than anything to do with justice.
Another non-shout out for justice I fondly remember is when the North Korean reporter at (I beleive it was) the Pusan-hosted university games rushed out of the NK press box to attack a small group of South Koreans who were holding and anti-Kim Jong Il rally.
Who do you thing South Korean society rose to condemn for such a blatant public assault and demand justice from?
Why, the South Koreans who illegally burned North Korea's flag and who should have been hushed up and taken from the scene from the start by the South Korean police. It was their fault this assault took place, don't ya know….
For the record, the vehicle involved in the 13 Jun 02 accident was an AVLM, which is essentially a tank chassis modified to carry a self-lunching bridge (in this case, further modified for mine clearing). The AVLM was in a convoy of 5 vehicles travelling down the road while being passed by a convoy of Bradley armored vehicles on the other side of the road coming from the opposite direction. It was not a tank, which in a convoy has better conditions of visibility than an AVLM.
Not that it would matter to the victims, but it does put the traffic conditions of the moment in sharper relief.
lirelou,
Most people refer to it as the "2002 Tank Accident" or the "2002 Armored Vehicle Accident" simply because it is easier than saying an explaining what an AVLM is, especially to a civilian.
this is a fake story…vang died because someone had killed him..and it wasn't because of the taxi driver…they fraud the taxi driver to think he killed vang but really vang's own friends killed him!!!!who would be stupid enough to run in the middle of the street….RIP VANG HER…YOU WILL BE MISS!!
A month later and still no word on the out come of any investigation or toxicology results which leads me to believe that there is definitely more to this story.
It seems Spc. Vang Her had a high blood alcohol level. It also seems General Bell wants this (and the Colonel Edwards investigation) to go FAR away as quietly as possible…
…making me wonder if it will ever be heard from again if nobody asks.
These two bits of info now come from a couple of sources… so I pass them on. I believe them enough to repeat but have no actual confirmation. Take it for what it's worth.
Very, very shady stuff, though.
J!
OK…I'll bite. Who and what is the COL Edwards investigation?
Rommel,
Look here:
http://www.lostnomad.org/2007/04/14/that-was-fast…
There is a LOT of rumor and speculation going on right now… mostly because there are so many dirty, long-term players involved in trying to get their hands on as much gub'ment money as possible that the focus of this investigation could be any number of people.
I am starting to get a good picture of what is going on… but not sure enough on a number of points to run my mouth yet.
Even more interesting, I am getting a better idea of how the whole system works… and, in typical USFK style, certain connected people seem to be going intentionally unnoticed despite their close proximity to repeated scandals.
Of course, if anybody wants to feed me little pieces of the larger puzzle, I'm always at chickenheadla@yahoo.com
J!
[…] custody because he waited about 30 minutes before reporting the incident, Yangju police said Monday.GI Korea and Lost Nomad are all over it. // posted by Skippy-san @ 8:57 PM […]
[…] Stripes are not reporting on developments in some of the USFK corruption cases or the killing of SPC Vang by a Korean taxi driver. I would like to know more as well, but just because the Stars & Stripes hasn’t […]
i think that U.S. Forces should leave Korea as a whole, we have other more important REAL WORLD missions going on else where. I mean dam we are only here to help them defend against Communism and we are treated like infidels living among them. I think the SOFA agreement just says "U.S. GIs are always wrong no matter what." and I'm sorry, i dont think that is ok. WE are the reason the WON is worth more than the dollar, so lets leave and change that, no more rip off taxi cab drivers, and no more fake merchandise.
By the way…
Word has it that Colonel Edwards got an Article 15 and a $10,000 fine… all very hush, hush and swept quickly under the rug. All the usual suspects went back to business as usual in ripping off the American taxpayer.
Stars & Stripes has yet to do a follow-up on Spc. Vang Her… in collusion with USFK which wants this to be deathly quiet.
WTF,
In exchange for a few hurt feelings of low-ranking GIs, an American military presence helps to contain a China preparing to project its power and increase its sphere of influence… a pretty good deal, really.
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Ok I have read what everyone has had to say about spc her and some of you are complete assholes and have no respect vang was a friend of mine and I was in the same company as him none of you know what ur talking about and never should have opened ur mouths in the first place you guys don't know all the details or the toxicology findings like I do please in the respect of all his family and friends stop assuming and saying things u don't even know about because it has been a hard couple of months since he has passed and even harder on his family please have respect thank you for those of you who do…. r.I.p her we miss you
army gal,
Thanks for commenting.
Here is the situation.
A naked GI was in the middle of the road where he was hit by a taxi. This is a rather silly way to be found dead.
In an unusual incident such as this, rumor and speculation naturally occur. Considering the lack of publicly-released information in such a high-profile incident, most scenarios blame Spc Her for his own stupidity.
Not just for months, but for almost a YEAR, USFK and Stars & Stripes have insured a complete information blackout on this which further shades Spc Her as being responsible for his own foolish death.
For their own reasons, this is how USFK has chosen Spc Her to be publicly remembered.
If you wish to do a real service to the memory of Spc Her, explain what happened to him. Tell everyone what USFK and Stars & Stripes will not. Place the blame for his death where it belongs.
If you fail to do this, he will always be remembered as that stupid, drunk GI who took off his clothes and played in traffic while disgracing your company, the Army, the United States and the Hmong people.
Well…
A year has passed and the death of Spc. Vang Her has been successfully swept under the rug.
A naked, and dead, GI is found on a road in the middle of nowhere and nobody is even a little bit curious about what happened?
Amazing, folks.
Considering the current scandal, gossip and manufactured drama-obsessed American public, it is a bit surprising that nobody is looking for the dramatic conclusion here.
(This whole thing reflects the larger American mindset, though… the government/corporate/media conspiracy of shared values to keep the sheep from asking too many questions while force feeding them entertainment and channeling their "outrage" in ways that result in supporting the power structure and spending more money. But… I digress.)
So, who is to blame?
USFK "leadership"? Sure. They are secretive and scandal-avoidance-obsessed… for reasons that don't benefit America, its military or you (except by coincidence). And when they are allowed to get by with this kind of cover-up, it gives them confidence to cover up even more… including things that are specifically targeted against you.
The Public? Sure. Instead of focusing on the latest TV and the availability of pr0n, some attention should be given to insure there would be questions and a public resolution if you were found dead. This attention insures the next step is never taken… for you to be MADE dead if you become inconvenient to those running the show.
The Media? Sure. With no follow-up, Stars & Stripes allowed this story to die… perhaps in difference to USFK's wishes? That will always be a faith-in-media-destroying suspicion.
Spc. Her's family should be given the opportunity to make a public statement. If they are unhappy with USFK's treatment of Spc. Her, USFK should be asked direct questions with the expectation of direct answers… and even "no comment" should be duly reported.
If Spc. Her's family feels the situation has been resolved to their satisfaction yet does not wish to speak of the details, this, too, should be respectfully reported… balancing the family's privacy with public closure which reinforces trust in USFK leadership and the media.
So… is this going anywere? Or will I be posting a lone follow-up here next year around this time?
Interestingly, it seems USFK celebrated the anniversary of Spc. Her's odd death with ANOTHER odd death. The body of Lea Gray, the Filipina wife of a USFK officer, was found in the forest after being missing for a month… icky. Let's see if this gets any coverage.
My understanind was that it was ruled a suicide.
I say we just move along. There is really nothing to report.
I have not seen any reports it was ruled a suicide and jumping naked in front of a taxi cab is not how people normally commit suicide in the first place. This incident is still very strange with many unanswered questions around it.
Ah, yes…
Suicide. Nothing to report. Move along. These aren't the droids we're looking for.
Your Jedi mind tricks don't work on me, Obi TheFirstOne Kanobi.
Naw, GI… I think TheFirstOne was making a joke…
…or he is the worst and most transparent USFK mole ever.
sounds like something my brother would do.
oh dear, i was too late. DARN! %^&*!…
chue her,
Uh-huh… and wasn't a scantily-dressed Ben Her hit by a chariot?
[…] – May – SPC Vang Her is killed by a taxi cab driver in Dongducheon and stripped of his […]
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Allright, this is a little late for the one year mark but hey im in iraq what can you expect. Anyways, to clear up the facts, Her was killed because his battle buddy had left him on the montain, it was not ruled as a suicide, there was no drugs or booze in his system. The whole thing was a scandle, I was punished for speaking my mind about the incident (so much for freedom of speech). The piss poor CSM of the batalion was coming up with lies to make it seem like it was hers fault. All the things i know bout what happend comes from being part of the investigation with CID, oh, and i happend to worked with the guy.
"you wont get me this tim ltc"
…so, what did happen to the guy if he had no alcohol, drugs, etc. in his system???
You have complete anomimity here, so spill the beans… 😕
Not if he's in Iraq and using a Government computer.
How true…I wouldn't survive in today's military…I'd be knocking people out right & left. 😎
well lotsa people use this computer so im not much worried bout them finding me. Anyways, what happend was… Spc Her and another soldier from our shop whent out ontop of the mt. That wouldnt be so bad but they didnt go there till late because we had to work that day, even though it was a saturday. well the other guy decided it would be funny to ditch him on the mountain while it was dark out to go party with our shitbag nco. After the other guy ditched him her called my buddy from his cell phone saying he was last on the mountian and he didnt know how to get down so me and a buddy of ours whent looking for him but never found him. I still remember seeing all the lights where it happend, but at that time we didnt relize what happend, they never told us till the next day. The unit hadled it like a bunch of polititions, doing whatever they could to make themselfs look good. The chaplain they brought in was more like a talk show host, trying to turn the whole shop against one another, and they didnt tell us ha was naked till the chaplain brought it up, he was like "so what do you think about him being naked, kinda odd aint it?". well im kinda rambling on now, but i hope yall see my point.
Interesting case.
ChickenHead was right ….
Q: How is a naked Hmong SPC like a hamburger?
You can see their buns, there is ketchup on their pickles and they are both brown and flat on a grill.
What conclusion can we draw from all this?
How about Ving B. Her was a complete shytbag who has made the military better off by leaving it?
Harsh?
I don't know.
Sure, we can huff and puff about "respect for the dead"… but the reality is this:
A naked guy plays in the middle of the road after dark and gets hit by a car… causing embarrassment for the military, dishonoring the Hmong community and screwing up the life of an innocent man in the process.
There is nothing respectful there… and no obligation to show any. This is a very hard turd to polish.
There are a few scenarios that absolve him from responsibility… but those that have come through in his support have not offered one…
…which is an indication that some ugly truth is being suppressed.
…which leads back to SPC Ving B. Her being nothing more than a stain on society… and a bumper.
Anybody have an opposing view?
Curiouser and curiouser!
Naked he came to the world… naked he left the world …
That's wisdom, after all, we take nothing from here in our last journey ….
Rest in peace soldier ….
Yahweh gave, and Yahweh has taken away.
Q: Why did Vang Her cross the road?
A: His diick was stuck in the chicken.
(…but not this chicken… just to clarify)
Yall go ahead and call Her a shit bag or what ever. i knew Her, i know he wasn't a shit bag, i know he wasn't under the influence of anything and running around naked wasn't something he would do. its sickening to see people make jokes about somthing they know nothing about.
formally of 302nd,
Fantastic!
Explain, if you will, the accepted explanation for why Her wound up disgracing the United States, USFK and the 302nd, in the middle of the road with no clothes on if he wasn't a shitbag?
Support of Her is thick on "he wouldn't do that" and thin on attempts to explain away the incontestable fact that he actually did.
Why don't you tell us what happened so that Her's honor can be restored… as well as the honor of the members of the 302nd at that time which is quickly slipping away by association and mind-numbing denial.
정답!!
She was sleep walking.
"Her wouldn't do that"
Sounds familiar:
"I thought he was pretty nice … But then again, I knew that his beliefs were way out of line. They were good neighbors, but, well, I got blue eyes, so I guess that helps."
–Meda VanDyke on her neighbor, neo-Nazi murderer Buford Furrow
Jeffrey Dahmer's neighbors, for example, told reporters: "He was shy, a little withdrawn. But not real bizarre," and that, "he never bothered anyone."
So how well did you know him (Her) again?
I've allready explained how the night happend before. the explanations cid said most likly happend was that either became dehydrated and hallucinated or was spotted alone and was robbed. his death brought sadness upon the unit, not dishonor. anybody that knew her would tell you his being naked wasnt somthing he would do. let me ask yall what yall think he was doing naked?
"either became dehydrated and hallucinated or was spotted alone and was robbed"
I get it. They have no idea what the hell happened.
These completely diverging rationalizations are desperate attempts to grasps at nonexistent straws.
…or, maybe, they know exactly what happened… and it is worse than anything the rumor mill could possibly devise… so a couple of trial explanations were floated in hopes that one would stick… and everybody would get back on their XBox and forget about it.
There is a lot of combined experience here. Let's ask.
Anybody ever heard of dehydration followed by hallucinations followed by nakedness?
Anybody have any experience of getting robbed and stripped in Korea? Ever heard of it happening?
"let me ask yall what yall think he was doing naked?"
No idea. There just isn't enough information to do anything but speculate based on experiences and probabilities… but a lot of scenarios, from prank to perversion, seem at least equally credible to the official theories.
Did the investigation follow expected procedures? Was there a thorough toxicology test?
The impression is that there wasn't a 100% effort put into the investigation and full resources were not utilized… especially considering it was a very suspicious death under very unusual circumstances.
But, since you asked, I think they would have detected anticholinergics like atropine and hyoscyamine in his urine… if they had looked for it.
“either became dehydrated and hallucinated or was spotted alone and was robbed”
I know when I get a wee bit thirsty I see blue stars, yellow diamonds (and rust), green clovers. I immediately strip all my clothes off and start running around Korea.
CID also thinks the reason the commissary stocks three freezers full of ox tails is because soldiers have to wait in line at the go-kart track. In other news. CID will prevent black marketing by ensuring you cannot buy a blue Chevy on Fridays.
formally of 302nd: What a maroon. What a rube. Do you really believe what your typing or are you just messing with us? CID? The ultimate authority? You've been watching too much JAG on tv.
I am a family friend of Vang B. Her's and from what I saw, this is nowhere near the truth. Vang was hit by a Taxi cab, yes. But he may have already been dead before. Upon receiving Vang's body, the family went to go see his body and found unexplainable marks on his body. One I will never forget is a hole through his foot, his head was bashed in and the tire marks were clearly seen across his torso. How exactly can this happen to a body by simply hitting a car? How do you explain the bashed head? The quarter-sized hole in his foot? The military is definitely covering it up! Oh, and by the way, did I mention there was no autopsy done to explain the cause of death? Yeah, that's right, the family had to bury Vang not knowing what happened to him or even how he died. This is just sad.
This was NOT a suicide, it was a murder. By who? I can only guess it was an inside job. Because there was not much information provided from the damn military; no one can really put this mystery together. All I know is that Vang's death was not a suicide, there are no explanations for Vang's other marks on his body or for his head injury.
XP,
This remains one of USFK's great mysteries.
Somebody knows the truth… and the truth is bad.
All of those who supported him purposely avoided explaining what happened… yet didn't theorize… meaning they kinda have a good idea based on the lines of questioning during the investigation.
Something close to the truth can be reasoned out, however.
If you think Vang was not at fault, kindly provide us with more details and let's see if we can restore his honor and perhaps put the blame on those responsible.
"Oh, and by the way, did I mention there was no autopsy done to explain the cause of death?"
Really? Amazing. Do you know if there was any toxicology test done? Was there anything unusual in his system that might have been unknowingly given to him?
"Because there was not much information provided from the damn military; no one can really put this mystery together."
Exactly what did the military tell the family about this? Knowing EXACTLY what they said is important because knowing what they DIDN'T say sometimes answers a lot of questions.
This case has always been interesting… not just because of the bizarre circumstances but because of USFK's very odd response and Stars & Stripes' abrupt silence and his fellow soldiers' rather strange, semi-coherent explanations.
And every further bit of information just makes it all more strange rather than more clear.
"Just from being hit by a taxi"
I can assure you, getting hit by a fast moving vehicle can cause a lot more trama than tire marks. That said, CH is right. I live up here and the whole situation was screwy. Even down to where it happened. GI's do not hang around that area. There is nothing there.
ChickenHead,
As far as I know, the family was informed of Vang's death and supposedly how he died (from the taxi) and "further investigations will follow"; which it never did. And then of course there was the whole salute at the funeral; routine stuff.
Restore Vang's honor? There's no need for restoring honor; he has never dishonored anyone in the first place. He was a citizen who served his country, he did not do anything to dishonor anyone. Just because no one can explain why he was naked does not mean he dishonored the military or his family. Hypothetically speaking, no one saw him take off his clothes, so how could everyone automatically assume he did it himself? Why doesn't anyone try to look at it realistically?? Just because it seems the easiest way to conclude what may have happened doesn't mean it's the truth.
And yes, that's right. There was no autopsy done, the family was told it would not happen and that was that. As for the toxicology test, I'm not sure if it was done, but I do know that it was spoken of. I believe the family was told there was one to be done, but I don't know if they actually kept their words and got it done. They told Vang's family one would be done to see if he was intoxicated before his death. And I remember this because his whole family was in great disbelief that he was because it just doesn't make sense. 1. Vang does not drink & 2. there aren't any nearby places where you can obtain alcohol.
Exactly what did the military tell his family? All I know is that it wasn't enough details. As I said before, all I'm aware of is that the family was told of his death and further investigations would follow. I was not around at the time and wasn't able to get more details from this family that was already going through so much. CH I do agree with you that they were so quick to get rid of Vang and over with. It seemed as if they just did what they had to do and hope no one ever questions them. I also agree that every bit of information does make it even stranger than clear.
This case is not even about restoring his honor, it's about justice not being served because something happened and Vang was caught in the middle of it.
Leon LaPorte,
I know that getting hit by a fast vehicle may cause other serious injuries, but a complete hole through his foot? How in the world do you explain that from getting hit by a fast car? I can't imagine how that can be possible. And trying to put this awful scenario in my head, it doesn't make sense. If there were tire marks across his torso, that means he must have been laying on the street when the taxi hit him. The only other article I've found online claims other witnesses saw him not dash in front of the car, but he was already lying there in the road. (http://www.stripes.com/news/nude-soldier-hit-killed-by-off-base-taxi-1.63732)
I know this is all idealistic stuff, but his family once did a ritual to communicate with Vang's spirit and supposedly his soul is not at rest because whoever did this to him got away with murder. And he supposedly gave some details of what he last remembered, but then again that's just a ritual and is not valid as evidence.
Something is obviously tucked away, for what reason, we may never find out. This is what the military is good at right? Covering up for stuff that should be kept unspoken of; even if it meant the death of one soldier, so what right? Thousands others enlist every year.. What's another pond?
Unless I missed it in all the posts, where were his clothes? Was he carrying them, were they somewhere near, or what? Most people, if they choose to run naked will carry their clothes with them. If they're trying to get away from or escaping from danger, they just take off, with or without clothes. As far as the tire tracks on him go, he could have been hit, flung forward, and then run over. The hole in his foot? Who knows. My first job out of nursing school was in a regional trauma and emergency center. It's amazing the unusual things that can happen when something like a car runs into flesh and bone. If he was run over, his foot could have hit something under the car. There could have been something in the road that was pressed through his foot and then ejected due to the velocity of the impact during collision. There's really no way of knowing at this time.
It doesn't sound like there was a very good investigation done, or if there was, a very good cover up WAS done. I feel sorry for his family not knowing how they lost him and I don't think he brought any dishonor to anyone. To me, it sounds like he was the victim of some extremely bizarre circumstances that the Army didn't do anything to clear up, one way or the other.
I know one, maybe two people that if they were found dead AND naked, it wouldn't surprise a lot of people. Everyone who knew him here said he wasn't the kind of guy to run around naked like that. Something weird happened to him that night and it will probably never be known – or divulged. Shame on the command that didn't do everything in their power to find out what happened to one of their soldiers.
#69 A damn good question!
XP,
Vang seemed to be held in high regard by his fellow soldiers.
The strangest thing is that, while several of them commented here to praise him and condemn those who disparaged him, they never actually gave any information which would defend him against suspicions that he was to blame for his own death…
…even though they hinted that they knew deeper aspects of the investigation.
Further, they offered no alternative explanation which would explain Vang's actions.
As we have seen over and over again here, this is the behavior of people who are hiding an ugly truth and attempting to defend an indefensible position due to personal loyalty to someone who really did bring their problems upon themselves.
This doesn't explain the military's cover-up of the whole matter, though… indicating there is something bigger and more interesting going on… which is likely known or suspected by those he served with… yet of which they have remained conspicuously quiet about.
Perhaps it is time to re-read Murder on the Orient Express and consider this all a bit more.
@#69 – According to the original S&S article it said his clothes were lying near the accident scene. I would take that to mean they were at least lying on the sidewalk near where the accident happened.
I am still leaning towards the theory of the soldier crossing the street and being hit by the taxi when it ran a red light. Vehicles especially taxis are notorious for running red lights in that section of town at night because there is nobody over there. I have seen this plenty myself when leading convoys at O-dark 30 in the morning in that direction. Why the soldier was over there is probably because he left friends he went to hike the mountain with thus explaining General Bell's battle buddy comments.
After the accident the cab driver had time to strip him down to make him look like some drunk idiot considering that he did not report the accident for 30 minutes. The KNP's probably didn't do any evidence collection thus making any investigation of what happened impossible. Without any evidence of this USFK probably didn't want to make such accusations against the cab driver public and thus this whole thing has gone down the memory hole.
#72 that's exactly what I thought when I saw the driver waited 30 minutes… He staged the scene and/or allowed his high-profile passenger(s) to skedaddle…
GI Korea #72, thanks for the information. For something that strange to happen, it's a real travesty that the Korean and, or just, the US authorities did not dig as far as they needed in order to clear that mystery up. They really let that soldier and his family down.
I think one of the posters above said they were reprimanded when they asked questions about the investigation. I've always said that you can get in trouble for making statements, but rarely for just asking questions. If you get in trouble for asking questions, then the answers are closely guarded and will get someone farther up the food chain in even more trouble.
More investigation will go into the home invasion and attempted rape of the grandma in TDC than went into this case.
ChickenHead,
You're right; there is something that everyone seems to be hiding or afraid to say about this case and I honestly don't think that we'll ever figure it out. Who knows how many of these similar cases have already been swept under the rug and remained there. It seems as though Vang was truly alone when this happened to him, yet at the same time, it seems that quite a few people knew what had happen but refuse to give any further information. I completely agree with you.
Dragonfly & GI Korea,
That would seem so, but I'm wondering if the clothes they found near by the body was bloody? I don't remember it mentioning that. Too little information has been given. If indeed the clothes were bloody and torn, it's obvious that the clothes were on Vang when he was hit, however if the clothes were not bloody, I doubt it very much that the driver had time to strip his clothes and wash the blood out. And the S&S article also mentions other witnesses saying he was already lying on the road. It's all a blur because no one can give any more information other than bits and pieces of what actually happened. Even then, it's still not certain.
His family, or someone, should have found out what the normal investigative policies/procedures are in those type of cases and then filed a freedom of information request to see the results of the investigation. If policy wasn't followed, someone should have to answer for it.
Is there a "thin green line" that protects wrongdoers when they've screwed up?
I must admit I sorta got that impression during the investigation of the Jamie Penich murder.
But it's just a niggling impression, not a confirmed belief. I would enthusiastically welcome evidence refuting such a notion.
#78, who protected Vang B. Her?
I'm thinking, based on far too high a percentage of my time in Korea living at the Roadside in Itaewon, that the "perp" in this case and in the Penich case was a Korean of some importance or at least influence. Not a GI.
I watched a hotel manager, drunk as a lord, strike a woman, call her names, break a lamp and some glasses, and fight with a couple of police who just gently took him outside and put him in their car and drove him back toward his hotel…
I've seen similar actions by folks at clubs along Itaewon-no. Never by Waygooks, just Koreans. I know the other happens–people I trust have told me–but I've never seen it. I also saw drunks at the Westin Chosin hotel take the mike away from the singer at O'Kim's and need to be gently helped back to their seat…
Alcohol is apparently an excuse for anything.
To: You won’t get me this….
I’m her’s sister and til this day I still want to know what happened to my big brother they didn’t tell us nothing and I would love to know how to reach u and talk more bout this I do miss him alot and think of him none stop. Sometimes I still think he’s somewhere out there doing a mission so secret that he still can’t come home to us. So I would love to some how get in contact with you. Til this day my family and I still wonders what really went on there. So please contact me and respond back…r.I.p. Vang her
Nou thanks for commenting and sorry about the loss of your brother. All of us here at the ROK Drop would like to get the full story on what happened on this case because it is very strange. I am surprised that USFK has not yet briefed the family on any details of what happened.
Nou,
Just look me up on Facebook. My names Shane Rohr. There’s not really much I could tell you but il tell you all I know. All so I’m sorry for your loss.
Gi Korea,
yea they didn’t tell us anything except that there was two guys that were going to be discharge from the army after my brother’s death which we thought it was weird but they didn’t tell us anything and tried to get a lawyer but nobody would go against the army so didn’t get much. All we wanted to know was what happened and did they get prison time for what they did to my brother. He was a sweet honest and loving guy nobody hates him. He’s one of those who just gets along with everybody.
Thank you Shane anything will help me I hope to get in touch with you soon
Nou
My heart goes out to you and your family. For a situation like this to never have closure must be really hellish!
NOU, I WAS A FRIEND OF VANG HAVE ALOT OF PICS FOR YOU PLEASE CONTACT ME. SORRY TO HEAR ABOUT HIS DEATH. PLEASE DON’T LISTEN TO BULLSHIT PEOPLE HAVE TO SAY.
This entire deal hid something really, really creepy… and perpetuated a great injustice behind a wall of secrecy.
And everybody just let it slide.
Just as they will do if YOU become the target… be it with your privacy, your job security , your stalled career…
…or, it seems, your life.
Hey Bryant. I’m Vang’s brother. Can you send me those pictures you have of my brother. I’ll really appreciate it. Thank you.
There are many over here who still wonder what happened. Good luck to you and hope answers, good or bad, come some day.
Hey bryant i would love to get a hold of those pictures…email me at nou_booty@yahoo.com
To XP:
I would love to get in conact with u how would I do that I’m Her’s sister. My email is nou_booty@yahoo.com