Richardson To Stop Using Name of Fallen Soldier
May 28th, 2007
By Michael van der Galien
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Governor Bill Richardson told MSNBC’s Tim Russert that he would stop mentioning an American soldier who died in Iraq back in ‘04. Richardson shared the story of Lance Cpl. Aaron Austin on several occasions.
Lance Cpl. Aaron Austin died a heroic death in 2004:
The Marines were searching buildings in the war-torn Jolan neighborhood when they came under attack in one of the bloodiest clashes between the U.S. military and insurgents that spring.
Austin helped evacuate the wounded and led other Marines onto a roof to operate a machine gun. When the insurgents kept advancing, he took a grenade from his vest and moved into the open for a better throwing position.
“Several enemy bullets struck Lance Cpl. Austin in the chest,” said the official Marine Corps account. “Undaunted by his injury and with heroic effort, he threw his hand grenade at the enemy on the adjacent rooftop.”
The grenade hit the bull’s-eye and forced the insurgents to halt their attack.
When the battle was over, Marines erected a makeshift memorial to Austin in one of the buildings they had fought to defend.
Richardson, meanwhile, adds to the story that when he met the mother of Lance Cpl. Austin, she showed him the check she received from the government, which was only $11,000. According to Richardson, this motivated him “to go to the New Mexico legislature and propose a $250,000 death benefit—life insurance—for every National Guardsman in New Mexico.” The mother denies showing Richardson the check or talking with him about money.
Richardson:
Tim, she—we have different recollections. That family is heroic, that young man is heroic. But let me tell you what that—my attending that ceremony caused. It inspired me to go to the New Mexico legislature and propose a $250,000 death benefit—life insurance—for every National Guardsman in New Mexico. It’s now $400,000. It passed. I made it happen. And then 30 other states—I went to the National Governors Association, and we pushed this–30 other states have made this happen. And the federal death benefit has gone up.
Now, I, I fully respect that family. We have different recollections. But that’s where I learned, at that ceremony, that the death benefit for our soldiers was $11,000. And look, Tim, I am not going to—there is nobody that has done more for veterans, any governor, I believe, than I have. No state income tax for enlisted people. I was just in North Korea two months ago, and I brought back—I’ve been working on this for years—the remains of six Americans from the Korean War. All kinds of initiatives, such as this life insurance policy that has been…
MR. RUSSERT: But if it troubles her, out of respect for Mrs. Miller and her son Aaron Austin, will you stop using his name and her name?
GOV. RICHARDSON: Yes, I will. I will do that. But we just have different recollections, Tim, and—but, but that family is honorable. I attended that service. I was really moved. You know, I call as many of the mothers of New Mexico soldiers that’ve been killed. But no one will ever question my commitment to help our veterans. I was in North Korea. I rescued—I helped rescue, helped push forward the release of—many years ago—of, of an American helicopter pilot. So I believe very strongly that we have to stand up for our veterans when they come back, coming back PTSD, they’re not getting the help that they deserve.
MR. RUSSERT: But if Mrs. Miller feels used, you would apologize for it.
GOV. RICHARDSON: Well, Tim, I—that’s where I learned about this death benefit. There was an individual there that saw a piece of paper being given to me. I, I don’t want to get into this. I want this to—I respect that woman. I will not mention it again.
It seems to me that Governor Richardson would be wise not to mention Austin again. I cannot possibly say whether his recollection of what happened is accurate or not, but I can say, however, that it is politically a bit silly to piss off a mother who lost her son in the war in Iraq.
Cross posted at my own blog.
This entry was posted on Monday, May 28th, 2007 at 6:57 am and is filed under Bill Richardson, Iraq, War, Military, 2008 Elections. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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