Dented Nerd

Trigger Warning

Image Credit” UniteWomen.Org

In 2005, 19-year old army private LaVena Johnson,  was the first woman from Missouri to die in Iraq, according to the Army, of suicide. Only after her family insisted on seeing photographs taken at the scene of her death did they realize she was found in her tent with a gunshot wound to the head, a broken nose, black eye, loose teeth, acid burns on her genitals (there is speculation that this was done to cover up possible sexual assault), and a trail of blood leading away from her tent. The army ruled that her death was a SUICIDE.  Her father, a doctor who has worked with military personnel for more than 20 years, believes his daughter was raped and murdered.  A documentary, “LaVena Johnson The Silent Truth,” their attempts to uncover the truth was released in 2010. There is a website with updates, LaVena Johnson and a petition asking Senator Claire McCaskill to investigate her death. As Cilla McCain, founder of Military Families for Justice asks, would this case by taken seriously if LaVena Johnson were not a black woman? Her parents have established a scholarship fund in their daughter’s name. Donations can be made to The LaVena L. Johnson College Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 117, Florissant, MO 63032