US Army absolves officers in gay soldier's killing
By Charles Aldinger, Reuters, 07/19/00
WASHINGTON -- An Army investigation at Fort Campbell, Ky., where a homosexual private was murdered by another soldier last year, has found that no officer should be held responsible and that there was no general atmosphere of homophobia at the base, defense officials said Wednesday.
The officials, who asked not to be identified, said the Army's inspector general found troublesome anti-homosexual attitudes among some members of the gay victim's Army company in the 101st Airborne Division based at Fort Campbell.
But Lt. Gen. Michael Ackerman, the inspector general, concluded that the division as a whole did not have any unusual climate against gays and lesbians, the officials said.
Results of the review, first reported by CBS News this week, are expected to be released by the Army Friday. The study was ordered by Maj. Gen. Robert Clark, then commander of the 101st Airborne, after 21-year-old Pfc. Barry Winchell was bludgeoned to death last summer with a baseball bat in his barracks.
Two soldiers were convicted by military courts and sentenced to prison in connection with Winchell's killing. Testimony at one trial indicated that Winchell was repeatedly badgered with anti-gay remarks for months before his murder.
The Fort Campbell case has fueled additional sharp criticism by civil rights groups of the U.S. military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy toward gays and lesbians, which tolerates their service in uniform so long as they do not discuss their sexual orientation.
Although the Army investigation found that there were some anti-gay attitudes in Wilson's company in the division's 2nd Battalion, officials said it turned up no evidence of a general atmosphere against homosexuals at the base and that no officers -- including Clark -- should be held responsible.
DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL
Pentagon officials said the Defense Department also plans to release Friday the findings of an advisory group ordered by Defense Secretary William Cohen to draft a plan for each military service to better deal with the problem of harassment of homosexuals in uniform. The advisory panel has recommended that service members from generals and admirals to privates receive more training on implementation of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, according to the officials.
Under that policy, which has been sharply attacked as discriminatory by civil rights groups, service members are allowed to serve as long as they do not publicly reveal their sexual orientation. In return, the military has been told not to seek out homosexuals and drum them out of uniform.
Army Pvt. Calvin Glover was convicted in a military trial and sentenced to life in prison for beating Winchell to death with a baseball bat as he lay in his bunk.
Winchell's roommate, Spc. Justin Fisher, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in the killing.
Soldiers testified at Glover's trial that Winchell has been badgered with anti-homosexual comments for months before he was killed.
The Washington Post reported that Pat Kutteles, Winchell's mother, challenged the findings in the Army's investigation.
"As far as I am concerned, this was a failure of the whole chain of command from the (commanding) general on down," Kutteles told the Post. She has filed a wrongful-death suit against the Army.
