AJC Commends U.S. Army for Investigation of Soldier's Death

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Dec 22, 2011, 02:12 ET

NEW YORK, Dec. 22, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AJC today commended the United States Army for investigating the death of Private Danny Chen and deciding to bring charges against fellow soldiers for their involvement.

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"Private Chen's heart-wrenching, untimely death is an even greater tragedy with the Army's revelation that soldiers in his own battalion had a role," said AJC Executive Director David Harris. "Our armed forces mirror America's pluralistic society. Those who serve must always know confidently that they can trust and depend on one another."

Though originally labeled a suicide, the Army's internal investigation concluded that Chen, the son of Chinese immigrants, allegedly was driven to take his own life in October, following aggressive and openly racist hazing incidents by other soldiers stationed with him in Afghanistan.

The Army announced yesterday that eight soldiers have been charged in connection with the death. Charges include involuntary manslaughter, negligent homicide and dereliction of duty.

Chen's death is not the first incident of racially biased assault on another American soldier of Asian ethnicity. Several Marines were court-martialed in October for their roles in the death of Lance Cpl. Harry Lew, an Asian-American Marine who had killed himself in April in Afghanistan after hazing.

"In bringing to justice those responsible for Private Chen's death, the Army also should determine soon whether its mechanisms for soldiers reporting hazing are adequate," said Harris.

SOURCE American Jewish Committee