Sgt. Joseph Boziecevich convicted for double murder of fellow soldiers

It's a sad day for all Americans, when one of our military personnel are involved with any sort of criminal activity. Sadly, Sgt. Joseph Boziecevich is just such a case. While only one soldier is responsible for these crimes, such events reflect on all of our military, and the United States as a whole.

According to WSAV.com, out of Georgia, a military court has ruled Sgt Boziecevich guilty of Uniform Code of Military Justice, section 118, in gunning down two of his fellow soldiers on September 14th, 2008, for criticizing his battle performance during a tour in Iraq. The shooting occurred at a patrol station in Iraq.

One of the murdered soldiers, Sgt. Wesley Durbin of Dallas, Texas, was to take Boziecivich's place in battle. The other soldier who was gunned down was Staff Sgt. Darris Dawson of Pensacola, Florida, who was shot for his criticism of Boziecevich's performance, after a heated argument. Although sentencing has not been determined yet, the convicted soldier could face the death penalty for his crimes.

In a report from Savannahnow.com, no other soldiers from his unit could confirm such details, defense attorneys in the case portrayed his actions as self-defense, and that he only fired on the two other soldiers after they had both placed rifles against his head. It was Sgt. 1st Class John Dresel who testified that he tackled Boziecivich to the ground after seeing him shoot Dawson.

In this case, both the prosecutors and the defense took a two-week time frame to lay out their case, while the all-military jurors deliberated over a two-day period.

While there may be many who applaud the soldier's conviction, eyewitness accounts are notoriously unreliable. Opponents of the death penalty will probably act to get Boziecevich's sentence commuted to a life term, rather than face execution, for a conviction based on eyewitness accounts alone. Regardless of the sentencing decision, the families of everyone involved are the ones suffering the most.

Originally published (for the most part) on Gather News.

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Aerial images of the Morganza Spillway opening to save Baton Rouge and New Orleans

Last May 14th, 2011, the United States Army Corps of Engineers had to decode whether to purposefully flood the Great State of Louisiana, or let the cities of Baton Rouge, and New Orleans, be destroyed. Although even now, the two cities aren't guaranteed to be safe from flooding, the Corps decided to at least try. In so doing, the call was made to open three spillways altogether.

The first spillway was the Bonnet Carre. Then, the New Madrid, and just last Saturday, it was the Morganza. The excellent reporters and camera-persons of WAFB/WLBT did a sterling job of capturing us all footage for this commentary, and they deserve a hat tip here.

In the first image, we have the news chopper making their approach for a visual on the opened bay. While it's small, in comparison to the entire spillway, this one small bay allows 125,000 cubic feet of water per second.

As the news chopper gets closer to the Morganza Spillway, the workers and observers on the pavement above are seen scurrying excitedly about. No doubt, some of these folks are somewhat emotional. Literally thousands of acres of land are expected to be under upwards of 15 feet of water, within 48 hours of the event documented here.

A broader shot of the Morganza Spillway shows a better view of how many workers and others were on hand for this historic event. There might not have been any ribbon-cutting, but this event will prove historically significant.

One final close-up of the opened bay shows a bit of the power of the current. One cubic meter weighs a metric ton. So the forces behind the current from the spillway would destroy a building. Even when most of the current is slowed, some 25,000 people are still expected to lose property to the flood waters, until this June, at earliest.

By opening the Morganza Spillway, the Army Corps of Engineers hopes to divert water away from Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Unfortunately, not only does the map show how much other land will flood, their own disclaimer states the results cannot be guaranteed. Both cities, and all of this rural countryside might still flood.

On the other hand, doing nothing will all but guarantee the two cities' destruction. To lose these two major metropolitan communities – one being a state capital – would cause pain on a national level. Baton Rouge and Louisiana are both worth saving. Now, the rest of us need to be there for those negatively impacted by this gambit ordered by the Army Corps of Engineers.

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Morganza Spillway opening in Louisiana to save Baton Rouge, New Orleans

After opening the Bonnet Carre Spillway last May 9th, 2011, officials have also decided to open the Morganza Spillway today, in an effort to spare Baton Rouge and New Orleans inevitable flood damage which would otherwise occur. While the clear majority of Louisiana residents would agree the two cities are worth saving, the costs to those affected are tremendous.

According to WWLTV.com, the event planned at 3:00 p.m. today marks the second time the Morganza Spillway needed to be opened, the last time being 1973. Out of the 125 bays, only one will be opened today. Authorities anticipate opening one or two more on Sunday, May 15th.

In a report from CNN, it's the community of Butte La Rose, Louisiana soon to be under-water, to an expected depth of 15 feet, within 48 hours. Those waters aren't expected to clear out until mid-June. Approximately 800 households are going to be affected. But with flood-waters around Baton Rouge already reported at nine feet, Louisiana officials and the Army Corps of Engineers have no other reasonable choice.

Image Source: Army Corps of Engineers

Copyright: Public Domain

Engineers in charge have pre-determined the Morganza Spillway will be opened when the volume reaches 150,000 cubic feet of water. At full capacity, Morganza can transfer 600,000 cubic feet of water per second. The initial opening today will release 125,000.

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