Submitted by: Donald Hank
LT CLINT LORANCE DESERVES A MEDAL NOT A SENTENCE!
Posted
by Ed Brown on
Sep 24, 2013 in Afghanistan, Featured, Leavenworth10,Pentagon, Terrorism, Washington, D.C. | 0 comments
Clint
Lorance
Twenty
eight year old First
Lieutenant Clint Lorance of North Texas was recently found guilty
of two counts of murder in the July 2012 killing of two suspected Taliban fighters
in a remote sector of Kandahar
Province Afghanistan. Lorance was sentenced to 20 years inLeavenworth,
dismissed from the army and must forfeit all pay. He was found not guilty of
making a false official statement.
Prosecutors
insisted Lorance ordered his men to open fire on unarmed civilians which
violates the U.S.
military‘s officialrules
of engagement – a policy that requires them to hold their fire unless
there’s evidence of hostile action or direct hostile intent. Capt.
William Miller, a government prosecutor, told the jury “Lt.
Lorance used his rank and position to harass, intimidate, threaten and murder
Afghans.”
Lorance’s
defense argued that the village being patrolled was under Taliban control and
had long since been vacated by all known civilian inhabitants due to constant
violence and warfare. In fact, Lorance had just taken command of that particular
platoon because in the days prior they had suffered several losses – including
the loss of their prior commander. Lorance’s very presence in the situation was
a testament to the “hostile
action” and definitive “hostile
intent” that U.S. troops had come to expect in that district.
——-background of Lorance
Clint
Allen Lorance was born on December 13, 1984 and is a North Texas
native who grew up in the town of Celeste.
He was a member of the FFA as well as a Police Explorer throughout High School
who also worked 3 jobs simultaneously to help cover household expenses as well
as prepare for moving out on his own when he turned 18.
On
the day of his 18th birthday Lorance walked into the Army recruiting station in
Greenville, Texas and joined the Army as a Military Policeman. Upon graduating
from Basic Training and AIT he shipped off to his first duty assignment in
Pusan, South Korea. His next duty station was in Fort Richardson, AK, stopping
briefly at Fort Benning, GA to earn his Airborne Wings.
As
part of the 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team In Alaska, Clint deployed for his
first deployment to Iraq from September 2006 to November 2007 , initially a 12
month deployment which turned into a 15 month deployment. Lorance was then
assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division’s 4th BCT and deployed to Afghanistan in
March 2012 to Southern Afghanistan. During his deployment, Clint was the
squadron’s liason officer to the commander until selected to become a platoon
leader.
——–setting the stage
Lorance’s
patrol, consisting of 16 US Infantrymen, 5 Afghan National Army Soldiers, and 1
US Interpreter, left their Strong Point early in the morning on July 2nd 2012
headed to a remote village within the Kandahar sector of Afghanistan for a
combat patrol.
Traveling
on foot with electronic mine-sweepers in the front due to the heavily
mine-riddled terrain, Lorance was in constant contact with overhead US Army
helicopter pilots who had warned Lorance over the radio of enemy presence to the
North, East and West of the Platoon’s position on the ground. Lorance confirmed
with the pilots a good description of the enemy, and pilots continued to track
and provide overhead surveillance for LT Lorance’s platoon.
As
the patrol approached the village they spotted 2 individuals who were sitting on
a motorcycle at a distance observing the patrol’s movement. The individuals
matched the exact description that the Army pilots had relayed to Lorance
moments earlier.
It’s common practice for Taliban fighters to use what the US calls
“spotters”. This is a tactic the Taliban uses to communicate with one another
and track the movement of platoons, just as it was apparently doing in the case
of Lorance’s patrol.
Official
intelligence reports for the area identified any personnel
owning or operating a motorcycle as Taliban because as I mentioned earlier,
there was no local population living there. The local population had long since
moved out of the area because it had been taken over by the Taliban.
Essentially, if they were in the area, they were up to no good and if they were
in that area and perched
upon a motorcycle sitting stationary there was little doubt they must have been
Taliban scouts intent on divulging the existence and whereabouts of Lorance’s
platoon – as had obviously happened just days prior when the same platoon was
attacked in the same geographic location – losing several men.
——– his decision
Realizing
the situation afforded him just seconds to react, Lorance made the decision to
protect his troops by preventing the scouts from relaying back to the Taliban
any further information as the platoons whereabouts by ordering a trained US
marksman, who was standing guard in an overwatch position from the road on a US
gun truck, to fire two long-range precision shots, eliminating the threat, but
it was too late. Within minutes Lorance and his men found themselves embroiled
in a gunfight with Taliban fighters.
———the aftermath
Following
the precision shots US Intelligence intercepted enemy radio signals talking
about the position of the patrol and planning an ambush. Moments later,
Lorance’s men engaged with and killed two confirmed Taliban fighters who were
planning the ambush. Simultaneously, Lorance’s men in a separate location
intercepted and detained a Taliban fighter who was attempting to flee the
village on
a motorcycle. Another suspected Taliban fighter was shot in
the arm and was intercepted by the Afghan Army Soldiers. Lorance ordered his
Combat Medic to immediately stabilize the man and bring him back to base with
the patrol for further medical treatment and remain on Lorance’s base pending
the investigation.
Upon
return to base, Lorance ordered both of the captured men be tested for gunshot
residue on their hands. Both men tested positive, confirming Lorance’s
suspicions that the men had fired weapons recently.
Lorance
then ordered that both men be physically separated, put into a shaded area, and
be given food and water. Two-three hours later, the prisoners were transported
to the Detainee processing facility at the Brigade Headquarters.
Even
though both men tested positive for gunshot residue and were acting suspiciously
military intelligence released them back into the wild.
The
two aforementioned scouts were not confirmed as enemy fighters by that same
exact military intelligence and the Army assumed Lorance guilty of random acts
of murder – fired him from platoon leader and took his weapon. He was moved to
HQ to assume administrative duties while awaiting the investigation.
On
Tuesday January 15th 2013 Clint was charged.
——-the trial
The
marksman in this particular case, as well as 4 other U.S. military operatives
involved in the events of July 2 2012, were exonerated of all responsibility in
exchange for their testimony against Lorance.
On
August 1st Lorance was found guilty on 2 counts of murder by a 10 member jury
comprised of military officers. During the sentencing hearing Lorance
said “I
take full responsibility for the actions of my men on 2 July, 2012.”
Former
military colleagues appeared and spoke on behalf of Lorance’s character, telling
the jury they always knew Lorance as a smart, above-average soldier.
Capt.
Zachary Pierce called Lorance “trustworthy,”
“unparalleled” and “one of the kindest and gentlest people I’ve ever
met.”
Regardless,
Lorance was sentenced to 20 years at the Fort Leavenworth military prison in
Kansas.
After
the sentence was announced, Lorance turned to hug his crying friends and family
members who traveled from Texas to North Carolina to watch the trial and support
their hero during his court trial.
“Y’all can handle this,” Lorance told them. “Be strong.”
Lorance’s
family has maintained that he was unfairly singled out by the military for
simply doing his job.
“Any
military mother, if I were you, I’d get them out of the
military,” Lorance’s mother, Anna, said through tears as she and the
rest of his family left the courthouse. “I’d
get them home.”
———ed note
I
spoke to Anna Lorance for nearly an hour via telephone today(9.24.13) preparing
to write this report. The only thing more predominant than utter sadness in her
voice and the words she chose to relay to me – was pride. She seemed quite torn
between the crippling sadness of the injustice which has befallen her son and
the beaming prideful joy any parent would have for their son or daughter who’s
accomplished great things.
You
can walk into any local Chase
Bank worldwide and make a tax deductible contribution to “Defend
Veteran Lorance.” Your contribution will be applied directly to
Clint Lorance’s legal fees which includes an upcoming appeal.
Clint
Lorance is being added to our DCX “Leavenworth 10
– Uncommon Injustice” series page where he will be honored alongside others
who have suffered the same fate. While he wasn’t one of the original 10 members
of that unfortunate group of brave heros – it’s becoming quite obvious that the
first 10 were merely the beginning. Based on my own research I suspect there are
approximately 90-100 soldiers currently serving time in Leavenworth for charges
related to killing the enemy in order to protect themselves or the lives of
their comrades – resulting in nothing more than U.S. soldiers becoming POW’s of
the United States’ current policy of radical Islamic appeasement.
Check
out the following video and share it with your friends. With your support and
interest we can make all Americans aware of Clint’s case and the cases of other
American hero’s who have been unfairly persecuted in the name of injustice:
Clint Lorance has dedicated his entire adult life to
serving his country and protecting American freedoms. During his tours he risked
his life combating an enemy who wishes to bring great harm to our beloved
country.
How
ironic that — instead of his life being taken by that enemy, it was taken, in
many regards, by the very government that ordered him onto the field of battle
to begin with.
You
know what to do. My readers have done it more than 500,000 times in regards to
these stories of military injustice. Click, share, comment, sign the petition to free Clint Lorance, visit his website,
and/or make a donation to his legal defense – but please get
involved and spend some time every day informing others who might not be aware
that our own government is persecuting, prosecuting, and imprisoning our very
own sons and daughters for the alleged crime of protecting American lives and
defending American soil.
UPDATE:
Clint’s
mother forwarded this letter from Clint to me to share with who Clint refers to
as “his fellow Patriots” – and that means YOU:
If
you’d like to mail Clint letters of encouragement and support you can send those
letters to:
Clint Allen Lorance
#93197
1300 North Warehouse Rd
Fort Leavenworth, KS 66027-2304
Clint Allen Lorance
#93197
1300 North Warehouse Rd
Fort Leavenworth, KS 66027-2304
Donald Hank comments: Quote:
ReplyDelete“Any military mother, if I were you, I’d get them out of the military,” Lorance’s mother, Anna, said through tears as she and the rest of his family left the courthouse. “I’d get them home.”
I have said this ever since the Iraq war led to the decimation of the Christian population in Iraq. Now that our government has shown its willingness to support Christian-hating fighters in Syria in an effort to take out the last Christian-friendly leader (Assad) in the region, coupled with Western support for radical Islamist Morsi in Egypt and the murder of secularist moderate Ghadaffi in Libya, the near total betrayal on the part of our 'leaders' is becoming increasingly clear, as evidenced by recent polls showing the almost complete lack of support for a military strike against Assad.
You don't need to be a Christian to understand that the deliberate decimation of any minority population is indefensible.
Don Hank