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KOVCO CONFUSION
Two big questions over the death in Iraq of Australian soldier Private Jake Kovco: how exactly was he killed, and what led to his body being left in Kuwait while another’s—apparently that of a Bosnian soldier— was flown to Australia in his place? On the first question:
* Defence Minister Brendan Nelson’s description of Kovco’s accidental shooting first involved him handling his firearm, which was later revised:
In the immediate aftermath of the death, Dr Nelson said he had been advised Private Kovco was simply handling and maintaining his gun, as soldiers were required to do.
“For some unexplained reason, the firearm discharged, and a bullet unfortunately entered the soldier’s head, and several hours after the injury, despite receiving the best of medical care, he unfortunately passed away,” Dr Nelson said on Saturday.
On Thursday:
“He had returned to his room with two of his mates. They had been out on patrol,” [Nelson] told reporters.
“He was doing something other than handling his firearm and in the process of fiddling about with the other equipment he had, it would appear, that in some way he’s knocked his gun and it’s discharged. There is no suggestion it was anything other than an accident.”
* Kovco’s furious mother believes details of her son’s death have been concealed:
“My son is dead and there’s a big cover-up,’’ mum Judy Kovco told the Herald Sun yesterday ...
Judy Kovco refused to believe her son, an expert gunman, accidentally shot himself. “How does an intelligent boy that is so knowledgeable about guns shoot himself in the head?’‘
* Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston denies any cover-up.
On the second question:
* Brendan Nelson’s version of events seems straightforward enough:
His body was transferred by his mates, in respectful military tradition, onto the back of a C-130 Hercules, one of ours, which took him to Kuwait. He was transferred to a US military mortuary and then subsequently to a civilian mortuary.
He was at all times appropriately identified by the Australian Defence Force and the Australian Army. He was accompanied by one of the non-commissioned officers, one of the mates with whom he worked.
And it appears that the private company, which is involved in the repatriation of Australians who might sadly lose their lives overseas, something happened between him being identified in the civilian mortuary and his transfer then to the commercial flight back to Australia.
* That private company, Kenyon International Emergency Services, is massively experienced in this line of work:
From mass graves in the Balkans to hurricane Katrina, the Asian tsunami to September 11, Kenyon has been there to identify, collect and repatriate bodies.
The Federal Government uses Kenyon to send its deceased citizens home. It engaged the company after the first Bali bombings and in Thailand after the tsunami.
The Texas-based firm has attended more than 300 disasters and employs about 1000 body handlers.
* Nelson is now leery of private-sector involvement in repatriation:
I am very suspicious that we’ve been let down by a system which is actually beyond our direct control and if we are going to do something which is to ensure that this doesn’t happen to one of our defence personnel in the future, then I think we in Defence should take responsibility for bringing our people home and not rely on elements which involve commercial or the private sector.
* The mistake, with the advantage of hindsight, and at great remove, seems terribly obvious:
On Sunday, after a memorial service with full military honours, a flag-draped aluminium casket bearing the body of the 25-year-old private left Baghdad airport on board an RAAF C-130 bound for Kuwait ...
The casket loaded aboard the cargo hold of an Emirates aircraft for the short connecting flight to Dubai appears to have been a wooden one.
* Kenyon says it is not responsible for identifying the deceased—as distinct from identifying coffins, which appears to be the issue here:
The company said in a statement it was usual practice for a Kenyon agent to be involved in repatriation, but representatives from the Australian Defence Force and the Australian government, such as the local consul or embassy, would identify the deceased soldier.
“It is uncertain as to whether this process was followed in this instance as the facts are still being ascertained,” the company said.
“It should be noted that during the formal process Kenyon is not responsible for the role of identifying the body of the deceased.”
It should also be noted that the body had apparently already been identified. Brigadier Liz Cosson will lead an investigation into this mess; meanwhile, the Australian air force is currently working to return Jake Kovco to his devastated family, for whom Currency Lad has a heartfelt message.
Sad to say, it isn’t that uncommon for some other object to snag on a trigger and fire a weapon. the guard makes it unlikely but it does happen.
And yes, well said C.L.Posted by lumberjack on 2006 04 27 at 05:30 PM • permalinkThe entire story of how Private Jake Kovco’s body has been treated is an offense to the soldier, to his family, to the Army, and to the Australian nation.
It has been reported that “Dr Nelson has ordered the immediate repatriation of Private Kovco’s body, even if that means chartering a private plane. “
We argued that in a show of goodwill, the Minister should pay for the chartered plane, out of his own pocket. To do so, would be the only thing he could do to redeem this blight.
Posted by WeekByWeek on 2006 04 27 at 06:29 PM • permalinkWeekByWeek - Do you really think that paying personal money will redeem things?
Who is the “we” that is making that argument? Just curious.
Posted by Stop Continental Drift! on 2006 04 27 at 06:52 PM • permalinkThe leftys want the poor mother to become our own St Cindy of the ditch. She will have more people pissing in her pocket than you can poke a stick at.
Its been a big stuff up. We have (apparently) Everyone from the PM down talking to the mum, apologising, taking resonsability, or attempting to clear things up.
But let no-one be too hard on the mum, rationality is not a big thing when youve lost a son.Posted by thefrollickingmole on 2006 04 27 at 07:09 PM • permalinkWhat kind of a disgusting mongrel would try and make light of something as tragic as this?
Check out Bill Leak’s cartoon in today’s The Australian.
Posted by pick-your-pun on 2006 04 27 at 07:17 PM • permalinkThis photo from the Age:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/finally-soldier-heads-home/2006/04/28/1145861512809.html
shows a wooden casket, marked in pen with the deceased’s name and the destination of Melbourne. So I am not sure the Aluminium/wooden casket thing is the explanation for the horrible mistake.
The version of the photo running on the Age’s homepage has a highlight on the details, with the caption of “AP digitally altered image”
Posted by attilathepun on 2006 04 27 at 07:34 PM • permalinkWhat to make of all this?
I hope the family’s grief will end soon.
I hope the military (and the gov’t) will learn that they are not just another govt department.
I hope there hasn’t been a cover-up for a murder or a suicide.And I hope the perpetually outraged will just drop this hot potato like all the others they have dropped once they realised that this is another thing they cannot bash the government with.
Already Jon Faine on ABC radio is prattling on about government lies. I thought to establish that lies have been told, you first had to know the truth. In civvy street it can take months for an inquest to find cause of death. It’s ridiculous to expect a juggernaut like Defence to have everything cut and dried in less than a week. Faine at least tried to hose down his nuttier callers who see the coffin bungle as a conspiracy to avoid an autopsy. Anyone know if Joe Vialls has moved to Melbourne?
Coffins get crated in special carriers for loading on civil aircraft- it’s possible that the wrong casket was put in the right crate- sloppy, but hardly impossible, especially in that neck of the woods where indentured labour from the sub-Continent get paid fuck all for shitty work in horrible conditions, and don’t exactly give a fuck.
The family would be well advised to keep schtumm for the time being, if only to avoid the embarrassment of being told that the deceased topped himself, which is looking more likely by the minute- this would also affect eligibility to repat benefits for the widow/kids etc.
I don’t suppose it’s occurred to any of the usual suspects that the government might be trying to save them this extra trauma?
Sunday once reported story on harrassement in the defence forces and major account cover ups.
Major ex major martinek tried to expose the defence force and was on Sunday, abc… She is going to court Hinch thingy…
Interesting senate piece 2002… if you punch in Martinek and you’lll read all the gossip then…..
How can they mess up a coffin?
Murphy’s law says if you mix up two coffins, it has to involve at least one that is already the subject of major controversy and media attention.
Shit happens.
Is it true that 3% of baggage on international flights ends up at the wrong place, or is that an urban myth (or have they lifted their game lately)?
Cross posting a comment from Catallaxy, re the hysterical claims by Mrs Kovco.
Practically every year Australian servicemen are killed in accidents during training exercises. Obviously each death is tragic in its own way but we had better get used to the idea that people get killed in wars and preparing for wars. The way things are going I can envisage a program of counselling for every school child in Australia when a soldier is killed in circumstances that are deemed to be newsworthy or controversial.
Check out the latest lunacy on the News Ltd blog comments section:
Gordon
There is a culture of cover-ups by the Howard Govt. and its underlings be they Army or DFAT.I blame the Australian people for continually voting back the worst PM since Federation, a PM that is willing to sell this nation out to a New World Order and slavery.Howard uses fear to subjugate our peoples when there is none unless it is a manufactured one as has been done in the USA like the 9/11 and the Kennedy assasination, all perpetrated by intelligence services orchestrated by an inner secret government.Posted: Fri 28 Apr 06 at 11:18am
JEZUZ H KEERIST this has brought out the dickheads.
#19 I just posted the following response to Gordon’s idiocy…
Kovco’s casket being accidently swapped in Kuwait is linked to the assassination of Jack Kennedy and a 9/11 conspiracy?
Maybe it was Kovco on the grassy knoll, he was sniper you know…
Or maybe Kovco shot down United 93 and knew too much, so HoWARd, BLiar, P-Resident ChimplerBurton X BushHitlerStein had him rubbed out on the order of their Neo-KKKon puppet masters…
Oh Yes. Now I see it. It’s been obvious all along!
(*slaps forehead*)
Let’s see if it is published.
You would think this would be another lesson for panicked bureaucrats not to rush to get a statement out just because the craven scriveners are calling for one. You’d probably be wrong.
By the same token, let’s wait and see what happened with the coffin, instead of playing dueling stories between dolts who don’t know what’s going on either.
That’s the only way to make sure the correct ass gets kicked for this goatscrew.
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 04 27 at 10:30 PM • permalinkPlus to add to the chaos, Cindy Sheehan is visiting Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane in late May - see http://www.greenleft.org.au/back/2006/660/660p8b.htm
I had a go (no luck) at seeing who is behind Green Left Weekly and wouldn’t mind betting that some/many present or past members of the Communist Party of Australia (the former pro-Soviet bunch) are in there.Adding to #25: The Socialist Alliance is a big-time sponsor/helper of Green Left Weekly.
[John van der Velden is a Socialist Alliance national co-convenor. The other members of the SA (Socialist Alliance) editorial board are Peter Boyle, Alison Dellit, Humphrey McQueen, Anne Picot, Dave Riley, David Scrimgeour, Andrew Watson and Austin Whitten.]I heard a theory on talkback radio, here in Perth, that he was playing Russian Roulette. That doesn’t make any sense though since people usually use revolvers and not semi-automatic handguns. One good point that was raised though is the gun could have been faulty, since the standard army pistol was designed in the 1920s and most were in service since Vietnam, like the SeaKings:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browning_Hi-Power
then look under incidents.I wish people would refrain from stupid and ill informed speculation about how this shooting occurred.
The Browning pistol has been in service as a military sidearm in dozens of countries for many years.
It is reliable, dependable, robust, pretty accurate for a pistol, and perfectly safe when handled correctly.
The service life could easily be 100 years.
The US kept the MA1911 .45 cal pistol in service for over 70 years.Posted by Pedro the Ignorant on 2006 04 28 at 12:23 AM • permalink#29 Yes they did keep the .45 in service for some 70 years, but not the same ones. They built new ones, the Australian army has a nasty habit of keeping old equipment in service for far too long. Such as the SeaKing, UH-1 Iroquois, F-111, Leopard 1 tank and the aforementioned pistol. These are examples of equipment that is keep too long past it’s use-by date due to generations of tight-arsed governments that want to save money. The SeaKing crash, the recent incident with the F-111 crash landing in New Zealand and this tragedy in Iraq are more examples of obsolete kit. Only now is the Howard government trying to re-arm Australia and most of the equipment is still second hand like those new tanks we are going to buy from the US.
This is all very sad and unfortunate, but the media hysteria it has generated is insane.
Posted by Susan Norton on 2006 04 28 at 01:10 AM • permalinkHis poor family. It isn’t enough that they must face the future without their loved one. It isn’t enough that they must endure mistakes made by others who ought to know better (but are still a part of the human race). They must also endure the scavengers who exist by picking over the bones of the dead, and the parasites who exist by sucking the tears of others.
I heard an unsubstantiated account late this afternoon, that Pte Jake Kovco (God rest his soul) was either showering or just about to shower following a very hot active patrol, and that he had placed his sidearm with his kit without the safety on, and that in his haste to shower, he threw the last of his combat gear with the rest of his kit, and the gun discharged.
A tragic, tragic accident.
For the Lameberts and others of this world to seek political mileage from this incident, I am sickened to my soul.
My source is fairly good. Pray for the Kovco family.
Soldiers die. Sad! Ghoulish media lives on. Sad too.
Posted by stackja1945 on 2006 04 28 at 07:17 AM • permalinkThis death is tragic for the man, his family and his comrades in arms as well. My sincerest condolences to them all.
Accidents do happen.
I carry a two inch scar along my right side just above the floating rib.
My brother, (Gunner’s Mate First Class: 2 and a half years in the Mekong Delta) on the sofa across the room, had just finished cleaning the family Winchester 30.06.
He paused for a rather heated conversation with my other brother in the kitchen about the finer points of stripping the backstrap off a nicely aged deer carcass, during which he absent mindedly reloaded the piece.
Such was his distraction that he thought he’d just check the lever action before putting it back on the rack over the fireplace.
The round grazed me and went through two interior walls before blowing a brick off the outside of the house.
My brother went white and started puking, I started laughing hysterically while kicking him in the head.
I’ve actually been shot before, so my reaction was more relief to be alive—then joy at the opportunity to kick the shit out of my elder brother and get away with it.
Every gun is a loaded gun—you can live or die by that maxim.
Posted by MentalFloss on 2006 04 29 at 01:14 AM • permalinkcjblair — From what I understand, the .45 autos in US service were last refurbished in 1948. I had some of the WWII-issue Remington-Rands (made by the typewriter company, not the gun company) in my armory racks as late as 1993…
Posted by richard mcenroe on 2006 04 29 at 01:47 AM • permalinkEarlier today it was said his laptop slipped and hit his pistol causing it to discharge.
The latest now is that he died from from a bullet wound to the temple about the time he read an email from his wife.
Dear John…
Posted by walterplinge on 2006 04 29 at 06:45 AM • permalinkWhile I agree this story is overblown, the rapidly changing accounts do suggest that someone is trying to avoid embarrassment, either for the dead man or for themselves. The fact that the body initially went missing would seem to add support for that theory. Suicide does seem a likely explanation, what with the loss of insurance benefits entailed. However the omission of the presence of the other 2 soldiers from the initial reports suggests that murder or bullying cannot be ruled out. If they try to cover up something in such an inept and obvious way, especially in the wake of the “dog ate my homework” AWB excuses, then it’s inevitable that questions will be asked.
Posted by Jim Geones on 2006 04 29 at 11:28 AM • permalinkthe only reason this is news is that the media have been slavering away, waiting for the first aussie soldier to die, so that they could unleash the gnashing & wailing. there have been several conflicting accounts already: 2 other soldiers present/now absent; cleaning gun/not cleaning gun; writing email/ reading email; gun in hand/gun on table; computer fell on gun/other gear thrown on gun. the coroner should get into this case with police & forensics support as soon as possible & the chattering classes, including brendan nelson & us, should shut the fuck up until some facts emerge. like that will happen
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Well said, C.L., well damn said.